The Fire Shadow of Fairy Tail
by Paradox Jast
Summary: War is hell. It took a while, but Naruto finally understood Pain's words. However, the war becomes the least of his worries when he is brutally thrust from his homeland into the great unknown. Welcome to Earthland. Population: Mages. Nin nin! Naruto x Erza, Naruto x Ultear?
1. Welcome to Earthland

Chapter 1

_Somewhere deep in the forests of Fire Country..._

"Let's have a chat, shall we, Naruto-kun?"

Stopping his forward momentum, the sixteen, almost seventeen year old blond came to an abrupt halt as the madman known as Uchiha Madara slowly materialized in front of him. Gritting his teeth, he watched as the man finished his transformation, then proceeded to casually lean against a nearby tree trunk, arms crossed over his chest.

"What, no hello from you? That makes me a little sad."

"Why would I want to talk to you? You're the reason behind the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and because of you Sasuke has been twisted so badly I can't even recognize him!"

Madara chuckled from behind his mask. "While it is true that I started the war, in regards to Sasuke... I merely opened the boy's eyes. He was already walking down the path, I just cleared the debris from it."

Naruto simply glowered at the man in front of him. The Fourth Great Shinobi War had been going on for almost a year now, with no end in sight. While the forces of the allied nations were still going strong, and nearly every nation with a hidden village had joined their side, Madara used the massive wealth that Akatsuki had managed to accrue to buy a very, very large army. Granted, most of his forces weren't that skilled, but what they lacked in skill they more than made up for in numbers. Madara was willing to pay anyone even to pick up a pitchfork and merely impede or delay the progress of the shinobi forces, and many were willing to do what they could for a little bit of coin. Anyone with a grudge against a shinobi of any kind was willingly flocking to Madara's banner of 'forced peace'.

"Still not talking? I don't know what else to say, Naruto-kun. I could tell you that it's a little irritating that you insist on destroying all of my bases, but it only takes me a couple days to get a new one set up, so it's nothing more than an inconvenience."

"Every time you make a new one, I'll burn it to the ground. You can count on it."

Madara chuckled again. This boy certainly had changed, the hardships of war had a habit of doing that. He'd seen more wars than he'd like in his artificially extended lifetime, but he knew better than anyone that sometimes war was necessary if you wanted to bring about change. Especially big change.

"Well, I'd like this base to last a little longer than a week, if at all possible. I put extra care into the paint job, this time. Allow an old man to enjoy his work for a little bit before it gets destroyed, please?"

The blond found his hands clenching into fists. Madara was up to something, it had been many months since the man had appeared in front of him. The last time he had appeared, it was to tease the teenager by saying he had sent forces to go level the Mist Village if the boy wouldn't hand himself over. Naruto had immediately taken off in that direction of Water, using Sage Mode to accelerate his travel, only to find that Mist was merely under siege and had not quite been breached yet. Naruto wasn't sure if Madara had intentionally misled him, or even Madara had underestimated the ferocity of the Mist shinobi under their newest Mizukage, Terumi Mei.

"I'll consider it, but what are you planning on teasing me about this time? You never appear in front of me unless you're planning something."

He heard Madara let out a few exaggerated sniffles as one hand rubbed back and forth under the eye hole in his mask. "Naruto-kun! You're growing up so fast, you catch on so quick now! I'm so proud."

"Cut the crap, Madara." Naruto's voice was gaining a gravelly edge, as it had started to do when he got angry. The Kyuubi had long since been conquered inside him, and he had free access to it's chakra. However the fox still got a kick out of prodding him with just the right thing to make him angry. Even though it would no longer attempt to control him, the Kyuubi was still a separate entity that existed inside of him, and it had its own consciousness. It also had many, many opinions to share, most of which dealt with bloodshed of some kind. Once an angry old fox, always an angry old fox.

The Uchiha sighed, then pushed forward from the tree he was resting against. "I just wanted to have a little fun. But I see you're not up for any games."

"Why the hell would I want to play games with you, bastard! Because of you, people who would otherwise be innocent are dying!"

Madara looked away from the teen for a second, up towards the sky. He shrugged as he looked back down. "Separating the wheat from the chaff, that's all. Only the strong deserve to witness the paradise I will bring to them."

Naruto only felt his anger growing, and was well aware of the Kyuubi laughing somewhere deep in his subconscious. "You're insane."

"Not really. I've just had a long time to think. A really long time. Now... I guess I should ask this once, just for old time's sake. Will you come with me peacefully so I can extract the Kyuubi's chakra?"

A growl. "Never."

"I see. Well, that's a bit of a shame. You know, I've never used this technique on a jinchuuriki before. You have two separate chakra sources inside you, your own and that of the Kyuubi. This technique separates a chakra source - or even part of one - from this dimension and moves it to another of my own creation. I wonder what would happen if I used it on a space that has two chakra sources as one?"

Naruto crouched down into a combat ready stance. The bastard was going to try using that teleportation technique on him, the one he'd seen used on Sasuke more than once. "What the hell are you trying to do, old man?"

Madara chuckled, and Naruto felt his perception twist a little bit. The world looked like it was... twisting.

"I don't know if this will work, but I've waited long enough for my plans to come to fruition and am tired of seeing them be delayed. I can't seem to locate Killer Bee, but when I sensed you I decided to take this chance. If it works, then you'll simply be transported to wherever I need you to be. If it doesn't... well, I can still make my plan work without the Kyuubi, but it will take longer. At least you'll be one big thorn that's no longer in my side."

"Madara! Don't think you ca-"

Naruto's eyes went wide as everything twisted sharply then flashed white in front of him. Immediately after that the pain hit, and if he could find his voice he would have screamed.

* * *

_Something smells... like... rotten eggs..._

Naruto sat up quickly, muscles and joints screaming at him for moving so suddenly. The smell of sulfur hung heavily in the air, and it took him several moments for him to get his gag reflex under control. Cracking open one of his eyes, he risked a glance at his surroundings.

Black rock, flowing rivers of red, huge gray clouds in the sky... while he had never seen an active volcano before, never mind several, he had no idea where in the world he could possibly be. He'd traveled through most of the continent where the Elemental Nations were located, and the best view he got was a long distance glimpse of a dormant volcano somewhere in western Earth Country. That he was in the location of several active ones completely boggled his mind. Was this what Madara had intended? To send him somewhere that no one could find him, only to come and pick him up later when it was convenient?

Naruto slowly leaned forward, bringing his legs underneath his body to push off the ground. His fingertips grabbed onto a large rock, and he put some weight on it to gain leverage. Unfortunately the black rock wasn't as stable as it looked, and promptly fell over when he put a little too much weight on it, causing him to fall over next to it.

The blond teen grunted in pain as his shoulder hit the ground first, impacting roughly against other rocks underneath him. He lay there for several moments, silently willing the pain to go away, even if the uncomfortable position he was in wasn't helping matters any.

"So, you survived after all."

Naruto tried to look around from where his head was resting against one of the many rocks, only to give up and close his eyes. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and chose to reply to the random voice instead. If it was someone who wanted him dead, he would have been dead already. It was likely just Madara, deciding to come tease him again.

"That you, Madara? Where the hell did you send me?"

There was a rumbling from somewhere behind him, and the sound of something scraping over rocks. That something sounded very large, if the slight vibrations on the ground were any indications.

"I know nothing of this Madara that you speak of. I can assure you that I am not him. Is he the reason you are here?"

Naruto started to speak, only to let out a series of hacking coughs. Tasting metal in his mouth, he spit a little bit, to see it come out slightly red. Something inside of him was still bleeding, which was unusual. Come to think of it, he could barely sense the Kyuubi at all. Thoughts of the Kyuubi brought him back around full circle - Madara.

"I think so. He has some sort of teleportation ability, and he can teleport others too. He claims that it's to another dimension, and considering I don't remember seeing a place like this before, I'm starting to believe it."

There was another rumbling noise from behind him, and he noticed that the voice seemed to be growing louder, and the vibrations on the ground were growing larger as well.

"I can honestly say I have never met anyone named Madara, let alone any mage with the ability to teleport. I've lived for hundreds of years and met the most powerful mages in this world, and I'm certain I would remember someone with a skill set as unique as that."

There were several warnings that went off in Naruto's mind at what the voice said. First was that it - whatever it was, it still hurt too much for him to roll over and look - had lived for hundreds of years. Secondly was the fact that the voice distinctly mentioned mages. Finally, it spoke as if teleportation was something unique... any talented shinobi could do short distance teleportation, Madara was just really good at the extremely long-ranged stuff.

"Mages? What the hell is a mage?"

"You mean you aren't a mage? I sensed an incredible amount of magic power coming from you upon your arrival into this forsaken land, hence the reason why I decided to break the rules of the exile and investigate the cause, even if it was a human."

Naruto groaned and pushed his hand back into the rough rocks, forcing himself to sit up again. The voice started talking to him again, and it sounded strangely curious.

"Your body is obviously damaged to a large degree. For a human, I'm surprised that you still have the will to live."

Naruto closed his eyes and grit his teeth, pushing against the ground even harder. It would not end here, he had to pay Madara back and end this war! "I... won't be stopped here. I have to much... left to do... too many people are... counting on me!" With a loud groan, Naruto pushed himself all the way up, only to start falling backwards. Quickly moving his arms backwards, his elbows landed roughly on the rocks behind him, but held steady. Trying to catch his breath after exerting so much effort, silence surrounded the area for several long moments. Slowly opening his eyes, he began looking around once again, this time to find out where the voice came from.

It didn't take long for him to spot the... creature. It was a large, curious thing... not quite as large as one of his largest Toad summons, but still big. It looked like a lizard, and it was gazing at him with what he would guess was some sort of intrigue.

Naruto looked down the length of the creature, seeing that it had red scales of different hues, and appeared to be scarred in several places along its body. It had some large, sharp looking ridges along its back, as well as wings. They were large enough to give Naruto the impression that it could fly if it really wanted to. "So... what kind of summon are you?"

The creature's eyes widened for a second, before they narrowed. "Summon? Why would you dare suggest such a thing? I am a dragon, one of the ancient beings of this land! Are you a fool, human?"

The blond's eyes went wide, apparently this... dragon... was offended at being called a summon. This was definitely a strange place. Naruto's face adopted a thoughtful look, it definitely was not a good idea to piss off his only potential source of information.

"I'm... sorry. I've always been called an idiot, so your guess isn't too far off. It's just, I've never seen one of your kind before, and where I come from, all animals that are your size or bigger are summons."

The dragon was definitely looking at him with interest now. "Where do you come from... boy?"

Naruto started to shrug, but stopped half way through the motion when his shoulders reminded him just how sore his body was. "I'm from Fire Country... I was right at the River Country border when I was ambushed by Madara."

"I have never heard of countries with names like that, and I have traveled this entire world during the course of my life."

Naruto looked at the dragon in shock, and opened his mouth to speak, only no words came out. It was then that he remembered something Madara mentioned... something about dimensions.

"Ugh... don't tell me I'm in another dimension... friggin' Madara..."

Upon hearing that, the dragon began to look intrigued again, gazing off into the distance. "Dimension hopping... in all my time I've never known a human able to control such a talent. That is quite a dangerous skill to have... even in Edolas, it is strictly controlled by the Exceed, and even they barely understand its functions..."

"Huh? Edolas? Exceed?"

The dragon swiftly turned its attention back towards the teen. "You most certainly are not from around here if you do not know what those are. Right now we are in Earthland, but that is all I can tell you. Edolas is a world parallel to Earthland. You could very well say that it is in another dimension, but one that is connected very strongly to this dimension. It is not hard for those with the knowledge and the power to break through the barrier separating the two worlds. But since you don't recognize the name Edolas or the Exceed people, that means you aren't from there."

Naruto slowly shook his head. Now he was just getting confused. "So let me get this straight... there are two dimensions that are easy to travel between, but I'm not from either one of them?"

The dragon nodded. "You show no recognition to any of the more commonly known aspects of living on this world, so you are correct. I believe you are from somewhere else entirely."

"So how am I going to get home?"

The dragon looked up towards the billowing gray clouds of smoke and ash. "I have no idea."

Naruto felt his vision start to darken around the edges, and was barely aware of the pain as he collapsed backwards onto the rocks once more.

* * *

Cracking one eye open, Naruto could barely make out the creases of cave rock above him. It was rather dark wherever he was, and there was a faint crackling noise that he could hear nearby, as well as a pale reddish glow coming from another part of the cave that he couldn't see.

Slowly sitting up, the teen realized that he must have finally healed up, because he no longer had any aches or pains. Some of his muscles were a little tight, so he must have been lying down for a while, but otherwise he felt fine. Carefully moving along the the cave floor, Naruto moved in the direction where the red glow was coming from.

It didn't take long for him to come across a fire pit. The only odd thing about the fire pit was that it seemed to be burning without any fuel. Next to the fire was a small pile of strange looking... fish. At least they looked like fish. Beyond that the light from the fire reflected brightly off of the reddish scales of the dragon from before. He didn't know if the dragon was aware of his presence or not, since he couldn't see the dragon's face from where he was currently standing.

"Ah... I'm sorry, are you awake?"

"Yes. Dragons don't sleep like you humans do. We rest, but are always aware. I brought some fish for you from a lake not too far from here. My son used to love to eat them, so I believe you will enjoy them as well."

"T-Thank you very much."

There was a rumbling noise that came from where the dragon's head was, though it never lifted up its neck to look at him as it spoke. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, it wasn't until he actually took a bite of the cooked fish did he realize how hungry he actually was. It tasted wonderful too, just as the dragon had said it would. No fish where he came from ever tasted like this without needing to have other spices added.

"You're right, these are great! Your son has good taste!"

He clearly heard the dragon snort, though since he couldn't see it's face, he wasn't sure if it was from humor or some other reason. Making a point to finish off all the fish that the dragon had gathered for him, Naruto stood up and bowed to the dragon once he had finished.

"Thank you again. I'm sorry if I'm an inconvenience."

This time the dragon did lift its head up and peer back towards his direction. "It is no worry. As much as any of us dragons like to deny it, company is nice, every once in a while."

"Once in a while? But I thought you said you have a son? Doesn't he visit you?"

"He... cannot. I raised him when he was abandoned by his birth parents, trained him, nurtured him... loved him. Then the time came, and it was my turn to abandon him as well."

Naruto was about to ask more questions before he stopped, completely shocked. "W-What? Abandoned him? Why would you abandon your own son! How could you do-"

There was a loud roar in the cave, and the dragon quickly got to its feet, turning around and snapping at the blond. "Silence, human! You know nothing of this world or the way things happen here! I did not want to abandon him, but it it a rule of my kind!"

The dragon's large teeth were glistening directly in front of Naruto's face, and its breath was incredibly hot. Still, Naruto did not back down and stared at the sharp teeth without batting an eyelash. "I was an orphan, I had no one to raise me as I was growing up. You say you had no choice, and since you've been around for so long you probably don't remember what it was like when you were growing up, but humans don't have the luxury of a long life. We remember things in great detail. I would have given anything in the world to have my parents there to raise me. I can only imagine what it was like for someone to be willingly abandoned!"

Nothing was said for several more tense moments, until finally the dragon pulled back. Naruto couldn't tell for sure, it was hard to guess what the dragon's expression held, but he could have sworn it was smirking at him.

"It is as you say. I regret that I had to leave him. But the date arrived for the departure of my kind, and I had no choice. If I were to disobey, I could be killed, and if I were to be killed the balance would be disturbed since I have no replacement. I'm still too young to even consider having one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

There was a rumble that definitely sounded like laughter. "You definitely amuse me, boy. To sleep for three days straight and come back immediately with so much vigor..."

Naruto absentmindedly rubbed his stomach. "Three days? No wonder I was so hungry."

A comfortable silence settled over the duo, neither saying a word for a while. It wasn't until Naruto remembered he was staring at a fire that had no fuel did conversation resume.

"Hey, dragon, how is that fire burning with no fuel?"

"Igneel."

Naruto turned towards the dragon's face, and raised an eyebrow.

"What's Igneel?"

"Igneel is my name. Use it, instead of calling me 'dragon'."

"Oh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Nice to meet ya!"

The dragon snorted, causing small plumes of flame to sprout from its nostrils. "As for the fire, it exists because I will it to be so."

"It's burning only because you want it to?"

"Correct. My magic is specially attuned to flame, I can do things with it that most humans could only dream of."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Hey, that's cool! Can you teach me any cool things?"

"No."

"Awww... why not?"

Igneel was silent for a moment. "Because I have already taught my son everything I could before I had to leave. I am forbidden to teach another until after the Dragon King Feast."

"Oh... okay, I guess. When is that?"

"Many years from now."

Naruto frowned. "That's a shame. I don't think I'll be here for that long."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna try to find a way home. Hopefully I can go back..."

"Perhaps. In the meantime, however, I can teach you things about this world to help you survive. You'll likely need it. I also want to test and see just how powerful you are, you have so much magical power that it's nearly blinding my senses."

Naruto chuckled as he scratched at the back of his head. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm still not that good with my chakra control, even after all this time."

"Chakra? You mean magic? I can sense that you have a lot, though yours seems much more pure than any other human I've met before, even more than my sons..."

Now the blond simply looked confused. "I have no idea why. Maybe I should show you some of my stuff and we can find out?"

Igneel gave him a rather ferocious looking grin. "Follow me."

_

* * *

One month later..._

Naruto let out a deep breath and set his bag down as he looked up at the sign in front of him. Stretching his arms, he let himself grin. It had been a long and slow trip, but he had finally arrived. Igneel had warned him about using his old shinobi method of transportation, he'd stick out like a sore thumb if he was spotted. Apparently shinobi didn't exist in this world, only mages. Some had the ability to do minor transportation, but it was rather limited and a very unique skill. To say he had impressed the dragon was nothing short of an understatement, the dragon had been blown away, both literally and figuratively.

Picking up his bag of supplies once again, he hefted it over his shoulder and pushed open the doors to enter the main lobby of the guild. As soon as he entered, his eyes opened wide as he took in the absolute chaos around him.

People were throwing things all over the place, magic was going crazy, and if not for his finely honed senses, he would have become victim to an errant beer mug that managed to sail in front of his face. People were going nuts everywhere, but the one thing that he did manage to pick up on was that everyone was smiling. There wasn't one person in the entire room that looked angry.

"Hey everyone, settle down! We have a guest, don't make us look bad!"

Almost immediately the entire room settled down and turned to look at the entrance. All but two people, young boys who were glaring at each other and throwing punches, though none of the punches looked like they actually hurt each other. It wasn't until a redhead grabbed the head of each of them and yanked them apart that they settled down, but even then they continued to glare.

"Hey, welcome to Fairy Tail! Don't mind those two, they're always like that. Are you here to put in a mission request, or was there something else you needed?"

Naruto turned his head to focus on the person who's voice he heard next to him. His eyes eventually landed on a young girl, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, with short white hair and big blue eyes who was giving him a large smile. He averted his eyes slightly, smiling and scratching at the back of his head.

"Ah, actually I was told that only the best mages work here at Fairy Tail. I was kind of hoping to talk to Makarov about joining."

Naruto swore he could have heard a pin drop. The white haired girl next to him actually looked surprised for the briefest of moments before she started smiling again. "The Master is on his way back from a Council meeting. He should be back later today, if you want to stick around for a little while I'm sure he'll talk to you..."

"Naruto."

The girl smiled even bigger than before. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Lisanna!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him over towards the bar, then forcefully pushed him onto one of the bar stools. He just sat there blinking as Lisanna noisily sat down on the stool next to his. "So, where are you from, Naruto?"

Turning his head, he was about to reply when another voice shouted directly into his ear. "Hey! Who do you think you are?"

Wincing, Naruto turned on the stool only to come face-to-face with a young man with a pink head of hair. He couldn't be certain, but at first glance it seemed as if steam was rising from his skin. He was about to answer when yet another interruption appeared, this time in the form of another white haired girl who had a strong resemblance to Lisanna.

"Yeah, who do you think you are! That's my sister you're pawing at!"

"But I-"

"Mirajane, that's no way to treat a guest! Why are you acting like that!" This time another girl started yelling, the redhead who had separated the two boys earlier. At least someone was coming to his defense.

"Quiet, Erza! I was just going to tell him that if he needed to paw at a girl, he could use me instead!"

How this girl - Mirajane - could say that with a straight face he would never understand, but he immediately felt the blush rising on his face. Apparently the other girl, Erza, couldn't believe what Mirajane said either, because she also seemed to be flabbergasted. It didn't last long, however, before she let out a growl.

"Why would he want to paw at a girl like you when he could have more fun pawing at me, huh! I'll show you!" The two girls foreheads were touching as they bared their teeth and growled at each other. Naruto turned his head to ask Lisanna if these kinds of things were normal around here, only to see her being dragged off by the guy with pink hair.

Sighing and shrugging his shoulders, he turned back around and faced the bar, only to come face to face with a little old man sitting on the counter.

"Uhh... hi?"

The old man blinked his eyes a few times as he looked at Naruto, then slowly smiled. "Hey there kiddo, welcome to Fairy Tail! What can I do for ya?"

Naruto jerked his thumb back towards the entrance. "As I said when I first got here, I was told to ask for Makarov if I wanted to join the guild."

The old man nodded and slowly stroked his small beard. "Makarov... Makarov... he's a scary guy. Are you sure you wanna talk to him?"

The blond's face adopted a hardened look. "Yeah. With what I've seen I don't think anything can scare me anymore."

The old man's eyes clouded over for a second before they refocused on the young blond in front of him. "You've got the look of a warrior, kid. That's not a gaze I should be seeing on someone as young as you. Just what have you been through in your short life?"

"That's a really long story, old geezer. Are you sure you have the time to sit and listen?"

At that, the wizened old man laughed. "All I have is time, my young friend. After all, as a member of Fairy Tale, you can be sure I'm gonna want to hear about all of your exploits in full detail."

"What? I thought I had to talk to Makarov?"

The old man winked, "Who do you think I am, Naruto?"

Immediately blushing, the teen bowed his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize!"

Makarov simply threw his head back, laughing like a lunatic. Several surprised yet happy cries of 'Master!' echoed throughout the room.

"Alright you crazy people! Fairy Tail has it's newest member! It's time for a welcoming party, someone get more booze!"

* * *

Naruto sat at the bar, quietly watching as the last stragglers left the Fairy Tail building. It was quite the lively party, to be sure. He didn't drink anything, never being a fan of alcohol, but it was fun to watch others get drunk and totally lose control. All in all he had to say he laughed more this evening than he had in almost the entire last year back home.

Home... that was something he hadn't thought about for a while. He missed all of his old friends, and couldn't help but wonder how they were holding up without him, or even if he was missed. Especially his teammates, and Sakura. There was tension between the two of them, ever since her slightly truthful confession. She eventually apologized for misleading him, but confirmed that her feelings were true. They both wanted to explore their feelings, but knew with the war looming that it wasn't a good time. As a result, they couldn't even do missions together, for fear of messing up mission dynamics. Not only that, but he was being watched like a hawk 'for his own safety'.

A lot of good that does when Madara can appear anywhere on a whim and teleport you to another dimension.

**You know, I really like that sarcasm, it fits you.**

_Where the hell have you been, Kyuubi? It's not like you to be quiet for so long._

**Let's just say that Madara is a dumbass, and leave it at that, okay? I know you were sore, I was pretty much the same way, somehow. Whatever he did tried to rip us apart, but that damned seal of your fathers is too strong and held us together.**

_Well, that's a relief._

**What the hell do you have to be relieved about? You can't be implying that you missed me.**

_I don't know, Kyuubi. I think without you to talk to in my head, sometimes I'd go insane._

**Whatever, brat. I'm not here for your entertainment.**

"Naruto?"

Startled from his stupor, Naruto almost fell off of his stool. "W-Wha? I'm sorry. I was distracted for a moment."

Makarov gave the boy a small smile, but continued to stare at him. It continued to the point where Naruto started to blush and had to look away. "W-What?"

The old man let out a chuckle and shook his head, picking up some trash. "Nothing. I was just thinking, you have the glow of a great mage about you. I think you're going to do great things."

"Well, you see... I'm not really a mage. I'm actually a shinobi."

"Oh? But shinobi aren't as powerful as mages."

Naruto actually chuckled at that. "Maybe not the shinobi you know. I know a certain dragon that would disagree with you."

As soon as Naruto mentioned a dragon, Makarov's face adopted a pensive look and he quickly looked around. Holding a finger up to his lips, he tossed the trash that he was holding into a nearby garbage bin. "Come with me."

Nodding, the blond teen did as was asked, and followed the Guild Master as he swiftly climbed the stairs. Once he reached the top, he opened a door immediately to the left and went inside, beckoning for Naruto to follow.

Inside Naruto found a sparsely decorated office. There were a couple trophies sitting on a desk, several picture frames with some slightly faded photos in them, and a book case overflowing with books. Makarov moved behind a desk, obviously his work desk, and sat down in a chair that let him barely look over the top of the table.

"Mmhhh... someone took the booster seat..."

Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile, even if he knew he shouldn't. The Guild Master didn't seem to care, however, as he pointed at another chair and told Naruto to explain what he meant when he said 'dragon'. "No one has seen any of their kind for a while now. I think it's going on five years. Dare I ask which one you met?"

"Igneel."

Makarov looked completely shocked. "Are you going to tell Natsu?"

Naruto's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Natsu is still here? Igneel told me where he last monitored Natsu at, but had no idea if he was still here."

"Yes, he is still here. Can you tell him that Igneel is okay?"

Naruto really, really wanted to say that yes, he would tell Natsu that his foster father was okay. He really wanted to. Unfortunately, he made a promise.

"I want to say yes, but I can't. I made a promise, and promises are one thing that I don't break."

Makarov's demeanor instantly changed into one of disappointment. "I... see. It saddens me, but at the same time I respect your choice and am glad to know that you keep promises. Is there anything you can say?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "Not really, but I also promised to watch over Natsu from a distance, to make sure he doesn't bite off more than he can chew. Igneel wants his son to become strong on his own, but at the same time he doesn't want him to die trying to get there."

"I understand. You should try to befriend Natsu at the earliest opportunity then. I think you'll get along splendidly."

"We'll see. So does that mean I'm in for real?"

Makarov laughed. "Of course, you were in before I even knew you encountered a dragon. Your magic reserves are very well hidden, but I can sense something very, very powerful hiding within you."

"You have no idea."

**Ain't that the truth.**

_Not now, furball._

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Makarov reached out and grabbed something off the top of his desk. "This is the Fairy Tale insignia stamp. It will mark you as a member of Fairy Tail until the time you choose to leave, should you choose to do so. I just need you to pick a color and a place where you want it."

It took Naruto two seconds to pick the color and the location where he wanted it, and he got a kick out of watching the old man try to keep the smirk off his face. When the task was done, Makarov set the stamp back on his desk and asked one final question.

"Do you want to use a code name? Most of the Fairy Tail mages don't bother, but a few do for various reasons."

Naruto thought about it. A code name might be good, it would lend a mysterious air to his presence. That could only help in the long run, he had no idea what he'd have to do in order to perform his 'dimension jumping' tests.

"Sure, it sounds like a good idea, actually. I've got a name."

"Well? Let's hear it."

"Hokage."

One of Makarov's eyebrows started to rise, followed by a grin. "Fire Shadow? How fitting, I like it."

_

* * *

"Naruto."_

_"What's up?"_

_"I need you to promise me two things before you leave. First, that you don't tell Natsu anything about me. If you remember what we talked about, you know my reasons."_

_Naruto sighed. "I don't like it, as you know, but since you confided in me I will promise not to say a word."_

_"Good. The second thing... watch over my son. Don't interfere with his battles, just make sure he doesn't die. You didn't hear this from me, but if he were to die, I might break too."_

_"Gotcha, I'll do what I can without doing too much."_

_"Thank you."_

_"No problem. If that's all, I'm gonna head out."_

_"That is all. Maybe we'll meet again some day, Naruto."_

_Naruto laughed. "From the way you've been talking this whole time, I thought you'd be happy never to see me again. But whatever. Just go and do that hibernation thing or whatever it is you do, old man." Waving his hand over his shoulder, Naruto promptly disappeared in a swirl of leaves._

_Igneel watched the location where he last saw Naruto before a small smile started working its way over his long face._

_"Hmph. Cheeky brat."  
_

_

* * *

_**A/N:** What's this, another one? I know, I couldn't help it. Don't worry, the others are still being worked on too.

Naruto might seem a little bit different than how you're used to seeing him, a little less happy and a lot more serious, but that's because he's been fighting a war for the past year. Naruto is 16, almost 17 when he arrives in Earthland.

The rest of the Fairy Tail crew is still there, Mirajane and Erza are 16, Natsu and Gray are 15, Lisanna is 14.

Naruto will be paired up with Erza later.


	2. Master Ringo's Mansion

Chapter 2

"Having trouble finding something that looks good?"

Naruto turned his head as someone walked up next to him. It was an older gentleman who spoke, probably in his early thirties. As one of the oldest still active members of Fairy Tail, it wasn't too hard to place a name with the face.

"Macao, right?"

The older man looked surprised for a moment before a grin lit up his face. "Hey hey, not too bad. You've only been a member for a day, I'm surprised you know my name."

"Makarov gave me a copy of the guild registry to learn names and faces. I have a trick I use to help me learn things, so it didn't take much longer than an hour to remember everyone."

"A trick, huh? Some kind of memorization magic?"

Naruto turned back to the job board and shrugged. "I guess you could say that. I'm kind of a jack of all trades, there are a lot of things I'm decent at."

Macao stepped forward, folding his arms over his chest, and looked at the job board next to Naruto. "So you have multiple abilities? Don't you have a main one that is stronger than all the others?"

The blond thought on that for a moment. He didn't really want to give away that he was a ninja to everyone, after all it was taught from the very beginning of their academy days that a true shinobi only reveals what they have to. It would be best to establish only the basics of what he could do, and let everyone guess the rest as time went on.

"Well, my main skill is being able to make solid clones of myself. I'm also able to teleport short distances."

Macao's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "S-Solid clones, you say? Not just that, but teleportation too? Sounds like you're pretty strong, especially if you can teleport."

Chuckling, Naruto rubbed at the back of his head. "Well, Makarov thinks I'm strong enough to go ahead and start taking jobs, at least. I need to make some money anyway if I'm going to have a place to live."

"Ah, that makes sense. The girls have a dorm, but us guys don't have that luxury. The last one was smashed up by Gildarts, and since then we haven't bothered building a new one."

"Gildarts, huh? He's supposed to be the strongest person in the guild, from what I've heard around town."

Macao nodded, rubbing his chin. "That's right, everyone is still talking about it, aren't they? He's getting ready to go on the ten year mission."

"Is that some special kind of mission?"

"I guess so." Macao shrugged, "Supposedly you only get told the details of the mission if you agree to do it. It's an S-Class mission, and I hear that there is another mission above that, SS-Class. It's called the hundred year mission, because no one would be able to complete it in one hundred years."

At first, Naruto was intrigued, but then he just rolled his eyes, "So why bother making it a mission then?"

Macao smirked. "Good question."

Chuckling to himself, Naruto's eyes began to scan the job board once again. Most of the jobs seemed rather simple; there was maybe one or two that would even compare to a C-Rank back home. Even the reward amounts were mediocre at best, he'd been through some shops in the town earlier to check and see what the prices for items looked like in this dimension. Compared to the mission rewards he saw on the board now, it didn't seem like he would be too pressed for money here.

"You know, if you wait until about noon, that's when more missions are posted on the board and you might find something better."

Naruto turned his head to his other side, to see who was talking to him now. There was a boy standing next to him that looked to be his age, with shaggy black hair. It didn't take long for him to place the name of the boy, but he also recognized him as the one that was fighting with the pink haired teen yesterday.

"Gray, right?"

The teenager nodded at him, smiling faintly.

"Thanks for the advice, but uhm..." Naruto scratched at his cheek, unsure as how to phrase the question, "Why are you only wearing your underwear?"

Gray's eyes went wide and he immediately looked down.

"Oh shit! Not again! In front of the new guy too!" Naruto watched as the teen ran back over to another table that seemed to have a pile of clothes sitting on it. The mild chuckles from nearby tables gave him the impression that this was a fairly common occurrence.

Turning back to the board yet again, his eyes landed on a job request that he had noticed several times previously. It was by no means the biggest job on the board, only offering ten thousand Jewels as a reward, but the job seemed simple enough. If he was lucky he could get it done and pick up another job later in the afternoon. Reaching up, he yanked the job away from the pin that was holding it in place.

"Master Ringo's mansion, eh? Interesting first choice, you sure you're going to be able to finish it?"

Naruto looked back to Macao, an eyebrow arched upward. "What do you mean? All it says is that I have to clean his mansion. How hard can it be to clean?"

Chuckling, the older man simply shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to question your abilities. That job pops up once every other month or so, and Master Ringo is well known in Magnolia Town for the parties he holds. Someone usually takes up the request, but it's often too much work for one person to complete by the time limit, so a team usually takes it if they want some spare change."

"I see. Well, with a couple clones it shouldn't be too much work, should it?"

Macao seemed to consider this for a moment. "You might be able to pull it off. Anyway, good luck kid."

Waving at Macao, Naruto folded up the request and started moving towards the exit on his way to do his first job. He only made it about halfway there, however, when someone stepped out in front of him. It was the elder sister with white hair, Mirajane, and she was looking at him with a frown on her face. As Naruto looked down, he saw that she was holding out her hand expectantly.

"Uhm... what?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You picked a job, right? You need to show it to me so I can mark it off in the guild registry, this way other guilds who may have gotten the mission request know that someone has already taken it. It will disappear from other job boards."

Blinking for a moment, Naruto quickly handed the piece of paper over to the agitated girl. Mumbling apologies, she simply snorted and stalked off towards the bar counter, huffing as she opened a large book that was resting on top of it. Igneel had explained a lot about the world in general to him, and Makarov had given him a crash course on guild operations last night, but he obviously still had a lot to learn.

It didn't take long for Mirajane to close the book and walk back over to him. She stood in front of him for several seconds, holding the job request sheet in between both of her hands while looking down towards the ground. At first Naruto was waiting for her to hand it back to him, but when it didn't seem like she was going to do that, he cleared his throat.

Mirajane jumped slightly, looking at him with wide eyes. It was fairly amusing to him as she then immediately blushed and looked away once again.

"Ah, uhm... I noticed what job you took, and this one can take a while with just one person doing it. Did... did you, uhm... want me to come along to help?"

Naruto was completely gobsmacked, and he knew it likely showed on his face. One minute she looked like she wanted to forget he existed, then the next she was offering to help him on his first mission. While he appreciated the offer, he was only taking the mission to pass some time until later this afternoon. Before he could say anything though, another voice spoke up - the one that defended him yesterday.

"Why do you suddenly want to help the new guy? You rarely ever take missions, but now you're offering to help someone else with one?"

Naruto turned his head to where the voice was coming from, only to spot the familiar redhead from yesterday.

"Why do you care, Erza? I don't see you jumping up to help! He's new, and I just thought I'd help make his entry into Fairy Tail easier, that's all!"

"Hmph, well..." Erza stood up, and started walking over to them with her arms crossed over her chest. Compared to Mirajane, who seemed to be wearing just enough clothing to be considered decent, Erza was decked out in a full suit of plate armor. "From where I am, it just looks like you want to get cozy with the cute new guy."

Naruto felt his face heating up a bit, and Mirajane didn't look like she was much better off. What caught Naruto's attention, however, was how quiet the room had gotten. Looking around, he saw that people were looking towards their group and then back to others sharing their tables, whispering conspiratorially to each other. Occasionally he'd pick up the names of Mirajane and Erza in their conversations when he tried listening carefully, but couldn't hear much else. He looked at the table where Erza came from, only to see that Gray was also sitting there with a smirk on his face, and Lisanna was looking at her sister with a frown.

Turning his attention back to the two arguing females, he decided to interrupt their little argument. It might have been amusing before he'd been hardened by war, but he didn't really have the patience for stuff like this anymore.

"I hate to interrupt, but if both of you want to come, or neither of you, that's fine. I have a job to do."

Both girls looked at him, eyes wide and mouths agape. Erza recovered first, and simply smirked at him. "Okay. I was just thinking that I have the perfect outfit for a cleaning job."

Mirajane, on the other hand, didn't say anything, but eventually recovered and settled for glaring daggers at Erza instead.

"Well... whatever. I know where this mansion is so I'll meet you two there. Later." Naruto turned on his heel and waved over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

The moment the doors closed, Mirajane poked Erza in the shoulder. "Back off, Erza! I saw him first!"

Still smirking, Erza merely raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"What do you mean, 'so'? I saw him first, so I get first dibs! I'm not going to let someone as hot as him get away!"

Erza's smirk turned into a look of disgust. "You're starting to sound like Cana. What are you going to do if he's weak like the last few boys you've been through? Leave him with the trash, just like all the others? I'm tired of seeing you gobble people up and spit them out."

Mirajane sneered at Erza, but instead of choosing to reply she simply huffed and stormed out of the building. Erza looked around the room, only to see most people giving her odd looks, before she left as well.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the mansion in front of him - it was definitely a lot larger than it looked on the paper. Still, it shouldn't be too difficult to finish cleaning in a decent amount of time with enough of his clones. Smiling to himself, he rang the buzzer next to the elaborate door and waited.

It didn't take long for the door to open, and he was greeted by a butler who looked to be even taller than the door. He had to look straight up just to see the man's face. Of course that was difficult as well, as the butler never looked down at him either, but seemed to always be looking up too. Naruto couldn't help but wonder how the man didn't trip over anything.

He was let inside the grand foyer, and held himself back from letting out a large whistle. There was a large chandelier in the middle of the room hanging down, and there were pictures and mirrors covering the walls. It would definitely be interesting cleaning this place.

"Ahhh yes yes yes! You must be the person from Fairy Tail, are you not? We just got notice that our request had been accepted! Very good, yes very good indeed!"

Naruto looked to his left, to see a very short... round... man walk out of a doorway into the foyer. Well, not so much walk as much as waddle. He was a very portly fellow wearing a top hat that was as tall as he was wide, and was holding a monocle up to his face as he inspected Naruto up and down.

"My my, such a strapping young fellow. I say, you look like you know how to get a job done. Well, all you have to do is make sure that you clean the entire house for me, hmmm? Not a speck of dust, not a crumb on the kitchen floor, not a smudge on a mirror! You can do that, can you not?"

"Uhhh, of course!" Naruto scratched his head as he tried to smile. He did not know what was up with this guy. The way he was talking was strange enough, but other than that it was his appearance. He didn't know that humans could physically hold the shape of a... a... ball with legs.

"Good good, yes yes very good. Well, get a move on then, the dust won't clean itself! Ha ha! Yes, I crack myself up!"

Naruto watched as the man waddled back through the doorway, shooting an incredulous look at his back. That was definitely weird. Igneel had warned him that there were some odd types in this dimension, but from what he'd seen in this mansion so far, Master Ringo and his staff certainly took the prize.

Not feeling like waiting for Erza or Mirajane to show up, Naruto decided to make a few clones and get started. He was experienced enough with his clones now that he didn't even need to make a sign for them, he just focused his chakra and a dozen clones popped into existence.

"All right you guys, you know the deal. Dispel when you're done exploring and I'll make more clones to start cleaning." As soon as he finished speaking, all of the clones disappeared from his sight, intent on finding out exactly how large this mansion was. From the outside it had looked rather large, but he wasn't sure if there were any lower levels underground that he would have to deal with as well.

It didn't take more than a couple minutes for the last of his clones to dispel, and he sorted through the knowledge they left in his mind. A few rooms were locked, which meant that he likely wouldn't have to worry about them at all. There was only one basement level, and it simply looked like a storage area. He'd clean what he could and perhaps organize it a little bit, since there seemed to be some messy areas. He couldn't stop a snicker as he reviewed several memories of a couple staff members staring at him with shocked looks, and rubbed his nose to avoid a potential nosebleed as he reviewed a memory of one of the maids who had her skirt blown up when his clone literally flew past her.

Making the hand sign this time, he gathered his chakra - or magic power as it was called in this dimension - and performed another of his signature moves, the Mass Shadow Clone technique. Dozens of clones appeared before him throughout the foyer, and with a wave of his hand they all got down to work, spreading out to take care of different areas of the mansion. Turning around to look out one of the windows of the mansion, he couldn't help but wonder where Mirajane and Erza were. It had been plenty of time, and they should have arrived by now.

* * *

"Excellent work, my good lad! Yes, excellent work! I have personally inspected many of the areas of my mansion, and I cannot find one speck of dust, one crumb on the kitchen floor, or a single smudge on any mirror! I am definitely pleased with the work of Fairy Tail today! Tell me, child, what is your name so that I may express my sincere gratitude to your superiors?"

"You can call me Fire Shadow." Naruto was trying hard to keep from cracking a smile. He appreciated the compliments, to be certain, but the little rotund man was literally rolling around on the floor in joy.

"Oh my. My my my. You must be a well-qualified mage to have such a splendid code name. Well, you certainly don't disappoint. Here is the envelope with the job payment, and I also added a little something extra for the splendid work. Not only that, but I have decided to give you a couple party passes so that you may enjoy the party that you helped me prepare for! I'm giving you two so that you may bring a fine young lady with you as company, should you wish to."

The portly man chuckled and elbowed Naruto gently in the thigh as he winked at the teen, to which Naruto found himself grinning. It was more of a resigned grin, but Master Ringo didn't need to know that. He accepted the money and the passes graciously, then promptly excused himself, saying he needed to report back. Master Ringo was more than happy to let him do what he needed to.

Sighing as the front door closed behind him, Naruto looked up to the sky to see where the sun was located. It likely hadn't been more than an hour or two, so he'd just have to wait patiently in the Fairy Tail guild hall for the job board to update. He was contemplating the type of job he'd like to take on next when he turned a corner, only to see Mirajane and Erza staring each other down in the middle of the street. There were other civilians walking around, but they seemed to be giving the two mages a wide berth.

Moving closer, Naruto couldn't help but notice that each of the girls' hair looked messed up, apparently they had gotten into some kind of scuffle. He stopped a few steps away from the two of them, and it took a moment for them to even realize that he was standing there staring at them.

Mirajane was the first to look at him, and she looked more confused to see him than anything else. "Naruto? What are you doing back here? Were you coming to look for us?" Before he could answer, her expression turned sour. "It's only been an hour. Don't tell me you need help already, just for a cleaning job?"

Erza, on the other hand, was looking at him with a completely neutral expression. If anything, she seemed to be content in waiting for him to answer Mirajane's questions, which meant it was likely that she was going to ask the same thing.

Naruto was tired of being underestimated, he had enough of that in his home dimension. Hell, they still insisted on sending people to keep an eye on him whenever he went to the front lines. He _really_ didn't feel like dealing with that in this dimension either. As much as he wanted to remain neutral for as long as possible, he couldn't keep the frown off his face and the sarcasm out of his voice as he replied.

"I'm already done, actually. But thanks for the vote of confidence."

The blond briefly held up the folder that held the completion paperwork and the payment in it, as well as the two party passes, then promptly walked around the two girls back towards the guild hall. He heard Mirajane start to utter something, but either she couldn't think of what to say or she was silenced by Erza because it didn't continue. He found himself not caring enough to turn around and see if that was the case, either.

**That was so cold even I shivered.**

_Shut up._

* * *

Several minutes later, Naruto found himself walking through the entrance to Fairy Tail, his mind a little lighter than when he had left his two guild mates in the dust. He didn't mean to snap at them, they didn't really deserve it, but at the same time he didn't think he could handle dealing with being underestimated all over again.

It didn't take long for the entire room to quiet down once again, he seemed to have that effect. He noticed Macao looking at him with an odd expression on his face, so Naruto simply held up the completion paperwork once again. Seeing the shocked look not just on Macao's face, but on several others nearby couldn't help but put a grin on his face.

Walking over towards the bar, Naruto was slightly surprised to see Makarov sitting on a stool next to the registry book. With a simple glance, the Guild Master beckoned him over.

"So, I see the Fire Shadow isn't wasting any time in making a name for himself, hmm? I got a message just a few minutes ago from Master Ringo, saying how impressed he was. Since we get this particular job so often, did you know we keep a record of who manages to complete this specific mission the fastest?"

Naruto blanched, that sounded astonishingly close to a familiar mission back when he was a wet behind the ears genin, capturing Tora the cat. "No, I had no idea. I just grabbed it because I thought it would be easy."

Makarov let out a bellowing laugh that sounded much too loud for a person of his diminutive stature, and proceeded to shake his head while giving Naruto a huge smile.

"The last record for cleaning Master Ringo's mansion was two days, and that was using a team of five people. With this accomplishment alone, I think it would be unwise for anyone to underestimate the Fire Shadow, wouldn't you say?"

The twinkle in the old man's eyes gave Naruto the impression that he knew what was going through his head. He gave the old man an appreciative smile in return, nodding and murmuring his consent. Handing the mission paperwork over to Makarov, Naruto decided to sit down on the stool next to the man as the details for the job were reviewed.

"Definitely impressive work. How did you manage to keep Erza and Mirajane from fighting with each other long enough to get this job accomplished so quickly?"

"I didn't. I did the job myself. They were still fighting with each other on the street as I was heading back here."

Makarov didn't move or make a noise for several seconds. When he finally did move, he gave Naruto such a stare that it made him shudder slightly.

"Are you serious?" Even Makarov's voice had dropped several octaves.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

The Guild Master sighed, then shook his head and waved off Naruto's apology. "I have no idea what you're apologizing for. You did splendid work, even more so now that I know you did it alone. I was hoping I wouldn't have to talk to those two about their behavior, but I thought they would have grown out of it by now."

"Well, you're the boss, so do what you have to, but I think you should leave me out of it."

Makarov glanced at the teenager next to him out of the corner of his eye as he started writing in the book. "Why shouldn't I have them at least apologize?"

Naruto shrugged, looking over the counter at some of the bottles against the back wall. "I've been in situations like this before. If they feel sorry for what happened, they will on their own. If they're forced to, it won't be genuine. If they come on their own I'll know what kind of people they are. I've always been told I'm a good judge of character and can bring out the best in people, so we'll see what kind of impact I have on them."

"Huh, you sound a lot like I used to. I'm impressed." Makarov let out a big breath as he closed the book in front of him, then turned to Naruto with another smile. "Alright! I'm still going to have to talk to them, but I won't say anything about you. I'm curious as to what they'll do as well. For now, get a bite to eat and relax or something. The job board should be updated in another hour or so, I'm curious to see what may tickle your fancy."

"You got it." As Naruto got up to move to a table, Makarov held something out to him. Curious, Naruto grabbed the item, only to find out that it was the mission envelope with all the money still in it.

"Hey, old man, I think you forgot to take out the guild's cut."

Makarov chuckled as he grabbed a bottle from the counter. "No, I didn't forget. You deserve it. Master Ringo doubled the pay since you did such a good job with incredible speed. Since you did it alone, you deserve it all. Besides, you told me last night how you don't own anything but a few supplies you were given and the clothes on your back. It's the least I can do."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that, so he simply bowed in front of the Guild Master, trying to hold back the stinging in his eyes. It was incredibly easy to understand why this man was in charge; he simply _cared_.

"Psh, stop that, kid. You're embarrassing me."

Chuckling, Naruto righted himself and wiped his arm across his eyes, giving the man one more big smile. Turning back around, he proceeded to look for an empty table. Now that he had money and could choose what he ate... he couldn't help but wonder if they served ramen here.

* * *

It was almost two hours before Mirajane and Erza made their way back to Fairy Tail. When both of them entered, everyone turned to look at them, then promptly went back to whatever it was they were doing before. Erza and Mirajane were both busy looking around the room, but before anything else happened, the doors opened once again and Natsu crashed through.

"Hah! Mission complete! It only took me eight hours, that's the fastest I've ever done a job!"

A blue cat with white wings flew through the doors while Natsu was talking, and punctuated the end of Natsu's proclamation with an 'Aye!'.

"Ho ho! Nice work, Natsu. If you had made it back a little bit sooner, you would have been able to witness another feat that was just as impressive!"

Natsu looked surprised at first, but still grinned. "Really? What was it? If they're strong, then I'll fight them!"

Makarov laughed from his spot on the counter, but otherwise chose not to reply. Realizing that the Guild Master wasn't going to say anything further, the Dragon Slayer pushed through the crowded afternoon hall crowd and sat down at his usual table, Happy right behind him. To his surprise, instead of the usual group, Lisanna and Elfman were the only ones there.

"Hey guys... where is everyone else?"

Lisanna smiled at him, then gestured at Happy who went over to give his foster mother a hug. Elfman decided to fill Natsu in.

"Gray and Cana decided to go do a job this morning because supposedly Cana has a date with someone tonight and she needs the money. Lisanna and I just got back from running errands for the Master about an hour ago. Erza and Mirajane went to help the new guy, Naruto, with his mission... but..."

Elfman trailed off, leaving Natsu and Happy staring at him curiously. "But what? Don't just end it there!"

Lisanna looked at her brother before shaking her head and sighing. "It's just a rumor, and we weren't here for it, but supposedly the new guy cleaned Ringo's Mansion in an hour. Alone."

Natsu and Happy both looked completely shocked. "Alone? What about Erza and Mirajane?"

The white haired girl found herself frowning as she looked over towards her sister, who was standing with Erza near the Guild Master and looking distinctly uncomfortable, which was very unusual. "Supposedly the two of them were so busy arguing around town that they didn't get to the mansion until after Naruto had already finished. They just arrived right before you did, too, so it makes me wonder if they were arguing again. Master Makarov doesn't look very pleased."

As if on cue, the other three at the table turned to look over at where Makarov was speaking in hushed tones to the two girls. Turning back to Lisanna, Natsu looked perturbed.

"I know that they argue a lot, but what's the big deal? Gray and I argue all the time."

Lisanna chuckled, but still shook her head. "That's not the point. They are considered to be senior members in Fairy Tail, and everyone believes that they'll be able to do S-Class missions soon. They just made the guild look really bad in front of a new member."

"Ohhhhh, I see."

"Aye..."

Natsu and Happy were both nodding their heads at the exact same time, causing Lisanna to giggle, and even Elfman cracked a smile. Before anyone else could say anything, Erza sat down at the table with a heavy sigh.

"Hey Erza, what's up?" Lisanna tried to sound cheerful, but it didn't look like the redhead was willing to be cheered up.

"Nothing really, other than doing a good job at making a total fool of myself today."

"What happened? I mean, we've been hearing rumors, but you know how wrong they can be sometimes."

Erza looked around the table briefly before closing her eyes and talking. "Mirajane and myself volunteered to help the new guy, Naruto, do a mission. It was the cleaning mission that we usually get every other month for Master Ringo. We... started arguing about things, as usual, on our way there. We were in no hurry, considering how long that mission usually takes to finish. Since we got distracted, it took us about an hour to arrive at the mansion, however when we got there, Naruto was leaving."

Sighing, Erza rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she talked, with her elbow propped up on the table. "Mirajane asked what he was doing, and assumed that he was coming to ask for help already. Much to our surprise, he told us he was done, and showed us the proof. We moped around for a bit, argued some more about who was the bigger idiot, then came back to get yelled at by Master. It's been a _great_ day."

Natsu had stars in his eyes, much to Erza's chagrin. "Wow, only an hour to clean that huge place? He's gotta be strong!"

Elfman couldn't help but chuckle. "What does being strong have to do with cleaning? At least he's a man, he managed to complete a job in record time."

"Where is the new guy anyway? Did he already take another job?" The moment Happy asked the question, the rest of the table fell silent, looking at each other. It wasn't until Erza slammed her hands down on the table, startling everyone, was the silence broken.

"I'm going to go ask Master where Naruto is! I can't believe I made a total fool of myself in front of a new member. I must go find him and apologize, then let him hit me for not appreciating him as I should have!"

As Erza got up and swiftly stormed off, Lisanna pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "Hit her? Why does he have to hit her? Does she like getting hit or something?"

"Aye!"

Lisanna glared at Happy, who simply gave her a fishy grin.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Name: Naruto 'Fire Shadow' Uzumaki  
Age: Seventeen  
Magic: Clones, Teleportation (Jack-of-all-Trades)  
Likes: Ramen, Orange  
Dislikes: Arrogance, Being Underestimated

Member Since: October 21st, 782  
Completed Solo Missions: 1  
Completed Team Missions: 0  
Reward to Date: 20,000 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** Just a little random information thrown on that guild card. I think for fun, at the end of some chapters I'll post updated mission completion information, just so everyone can see how Naruto is doing in Earthland. He needs to make some money if he's ever going to get the supplies he'll likely need to find his way home.

_100 Jewels = 100 Ryo = 100 Yen = 1.00 USD _- Just trying to keep it simple.

As for the dates... I'm going to -try- to keep them as spot on as possible, but I may have to take some liberties and stretch things a bit. The main date that I will concentrate on and revolve the rest of the dates on the story around is the day the dragons went into their self-imposed exile, on 7-7-777. Hopefully it won't be much of an issue. The first few chapters will be introducing Naruto as a mage into Fairy Tail, and everyone getting accustomed to him. Eventually Lucy will be introduced, and 'canon' Fairy Tail will come into play.

_Hokage vs Fire Shadow_ - I'll likely end up alternating between them, with focus on Fire Shadow. Fairy Tail strikes me as more English-oriented, personally, when compared to the Narutoverse. That also means usage of suffixes will be rare to nonexistent. All the names of magic/chakra techniques, if given, will be their English versions. Generally I tend to avoid giving technique names and only explain their effects. Thanks to the reviewers who suggested this. You may also have noticed that I changed the title of the story to reflect my opinion.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I'm amazed by the strong response this fic has gotten already. In only 24 hours, it's gotten 741 hits, been placed in 5 C2's, and has 45 faves and 41 alerts. Rather impressive for a story in its infancy. Thank you, everyone.


	3. If A Tree Falls In The Forest

Chapter 3

Naruto smiled as the landlord handed him the key to his own small apartment. The elderly man was impressed with Naruto wanting to be on his own at such a young age, and was even more surprised when the blond refused the discount that he was willing to offer. The apartment was a simple room with no real amenities, and as a result was cheap to begin with, so Naruto felt the discount was unnecessary.

He only needed the apartment for a short time as a place to rest and relax when he wasn't doing jobs. Makarov had offered to let him bunk in the basement of the guild hall, which he had done for the first night, but the Guild Master was being so nice to him that he didn't want to take advantage of the man's hospitality. He had been living by himself since he was six years old, and had been paying for everything with his own money since he was twelve. There was no reason why he couldn't manage now in this new world.

If he had to be honest with himself, it was a nice feeling to be able to start fresh. No one knew who he was, and he didn't have the stigma of the Kyuubi hanging all over him.

**I take offense to that, I am not a stigma.**

_Then what are you?_

**A glorious mass of chakra with a conciousness. One that you still seem to have trouble appreciating, even after you've used my chakra so many times.**

_You mean appreciating things like making me lose both of my parents, having my village ignore me for most of my childhood, and causing a madman to chase after me these last couple years?_

**Touché. Isn't mutual hatred a wonderful thing?**

Regardless of the Kyuubi's apparent thoughts on the matter, it really _was_ nice to be starting over. He missed his home, certainly, and would begin looking for ways to get back as soon as he could, but there wasn't anything stopping him from trying to enjoy his time in this dimension as much as he could.

Thinking back to his new temporary apartment, he had a clone go back up to the room and drop off his bag of supplies. He had picked up another job from the board in the guild before he went apartment hunting, and had grabbed one that he would be able to finish in a short amount of time. A construction company had gotten a build order, but they were lacking on the lumber needed to fulfill the order within the allotted time frame. As a result, they put in a request at the guild for someone to bring them the logs they needed, the faster the delivery, the better the pay. If he could finish it on the first day, it would be another thirty-five thousand Jewels in his pocket.

Heck, he wouldn't even need the full day. A couple hours at most should be enough to finish the job. If he was lucky, he might even have enough time to finish one more job today as well. Most of the missions he'd seen so far seemed like a cakewalk. If only the D-Rank missions back home paid this well.

"Naruto!"

The blond stopped walking as he heard his name, and turned around to look at the person who was calling for him. Erza promptly came running up to him, and bent over slightly with her hands on her knees, panting.

"You know, it might be easier to run if you weren't wearing that heavy looking suit of armor."

The redhead simply stared at him for a moment as if he had just uttered the most brilliant thing in the world. Shaking her head, she muttered some words that he didn't understand, then glowed for a couple seconds. In not much more time than it took him to blink, she had changed into much more casual clothing. She was now wearing a blouse that ended just above her knees and jeans underneath.

In fact, since she changed her clothes, Naruto reminded himself that he'd need to get his own change of clothes soon. His current jounin outfit was getting a little worn out from being used and washed every day over the past month, and even his vest was needing some patchwork. Putting that out of his mind for now, he focused on Erza, who seemed to finally be catching her breath.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Erza shook her head, then stood up straight and promptly bowed in front of him. "I wish to apologize for acting like a fool in front of you earlier."

"Did Makarov send you to apologize to me, or something?"

Erza stood back up, looking confused. "No. Why should he have to? I was wrong, and I came to say I was sorry."

Naruto let a ghost of a smile cross his face. "I see. Well, apology accepted then. I also want to apologize for being a lot more blunt and cold than I probably should have been with a new guild mate."

The redhead simply waved it off. "You don't have to apologize for that, it was deserved. In fact, I think you should hit me for the way I acted to you. I am your superior in the guild, and I should have known better."

Naruto's face went slack. Hit her? "Why would you want me to hit you?"

"I feel it is an appropriate action, and proves that I wish to repent for my actions."

Rubbing at his face, Naruto sighed. "Are you sure? I mean, I think it's a little extreme... but if you demand it..."

Standing firm, Erza closed her eyes and obviously tensed in front of him. "It's deserved. I'm prepared."

"Fine then, here goes."

Naruto moved swiftly up to the girl, and he saw her flinch as his footsteps approached her. He brought his hand up, pressed the tip of his forefinger against the pad of his thumb... and none-too-gently flicked her forehead.

"Ow!" Erza promptly opened her eyes and rubbed at her forehead. "What was that?"

Naruto chuckled, grinning at her, then lifted his hand up and made the flicking motion. "You asked me to hit you, so I did. You didn't say where, with what, or how hard. So I used my imagination."

At first the girl looked like she wanted to retort, but settled on a grin and shook her head instead. "I feel as if I deserved worse... but thank you, Naruto."

"Sheesh, don't be so hard on yourself. I'd feel bad if I gave a pretty girl a bruise."

He couldn't tell if Erza blushed or not, her face was already red from running half way across town. She did say something, however, and even though the voice was quiet, he was still able to hear it.

"Pretty girl?"

"Yep, you heard me. What, you don't think you are?"

Erza was obviously startled, she probably didn't believe that he would hear her mumbling. She quickly looked away, most likely embarrassed. "You're the first person my age to say that. Most people just think of my code name, Titania, and automatically assume I'm just some monstrously strong hag of sorts."

Hearing Erza call herself monstrously strong caused old memories of Naruto's to return, when he used to call Sakura the same thing. If this girl was anything like Sakura was, perhaps they'd get along well enough. When she wasn't arguing with Mirajane, she actually seemed like a normal teenage girl. So far, anyway.

"Well, I don't know about other people, but I haven't formed an opinion yet." Naruto gave her a small smile, then gently patted her shoulder before turning around, continuing his trek towards the outskirts of Magnolia Town so he could complete his mission.

"W-Wait! What are you doing right now?"

The blond stopped walking again, but looked over his shoulder instead of turning around this time. He gestured with his hand in the direction he was traveling.

"I picked up another mission when the job board updated. I have nothing better to do, and I need the money."

"I see..." Erza looked down for a second, then quickly looked back up and nodded, as if she had made up her mind about something. "Can I come with you? I won't do anything if you don't want me to, but I'd like to see what you're capable of. Your last job was very impressive, and I'd like to see how you work."

She seemed to falter at the very end since his expression didn't change when she asked the question, and decided to mumble out a, "If you don't mind, that is," at the very end.

Naruto thought about it for a moment. She looked sincere enough, and the other girl Mirajane was not around for her to fight with this time. His only concern was that he wanted to avoid getting too close to people in this dimension. He didn't want to hurt anyone by his departure if... no... _when_ he found his way home.

"If you want to tag along to watch, that's fine. This mission shouldn't take me too long."

He started walking down the street again, wondering if she would follow him after all - only to have a hard time keeping the grin off his face when he heard her run up and fall into step next to him.

* * *

Naruto stopped and looked around for a moment. They were far enough away from the Town so hopefully any noise he made wouldn't disturb anyone. He would have been here earlier if he'd been able to jump from tree to tree, but he decided against doing that with Erza present. It would only spawn questions he really didn't feel like answering right now.

"Well, this looks like a good spot."

"Do you want any help? I might be able to use my swords to help you cut down some trees faster."

Naruto appreciated her offer, but still waved it off. "Nah, it's fine. Where I come from, we were on the move a lot, so I have plenty of experience when it comes to acquiring lumber."

Erza watched as Naruto held up a hand, and it looked as if a faint bluish-gray hue started to form around it. The blond walked up to a nearby tree that he had been looking at, and crouching down in front of it, drew his hand across the base of the tree trunk in one swift motion. From where she was standing, she couldn't see if it did anything, but whatever it was Naruto seemed to be satisfied with it.

He stood up, then with a loud 'thump', smashed the palm of his hand against the trunk of the tree. Much to her amazement, the entire tree started leaning away from where he hit it, only to fall to the forest floor with a loud crash.

Looking at her over his shoulder, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the expression on Erza's face.

"Have a seat and enjoy the show. If you sit on the stump, watch out for sap. Wouldn't want to get your clothes dirty."

If Erza heard him, she didn't acknowledge it verbally, but slowly started walking towards the tree stump while staring at it. "I thought you said you only needed logs for this mission. What did you mean when you said lumber?"

"I figure if I go above and beyond, I might be able to get a bonus again. Of course I'll take some plain logs too, just in case." Grinning at her again, Naruto concentrated and a handful of clones appeared next to him. Erza obviously wasn't expecting this, as she began to drop down into a combat ready stance, only to slowly come back out of it when she realized all the new arrivals looked just like Naruto.

"Ah... I read your file. Clones and Teleportation. Both very rare skills... sorry if I seemed startled, but I forgot and wasn't expecting it."

"Don't worry about it. At least you have good reflexes."

Erza nodded, then proceeded to sit down on the newly created stump. She watched carefully as the clones of Naruto moved along the tree trunk, using the same technique with their hands to swipe at the various branches, removing them from the trunk. When the trunk was finally cleared, the redhead had a hard time believing what she saw next.

The clones stood next to the trunk at various places along it, then at the same time they grabbed it from underneath and lifted it up. With a yell, all the clones tossed the heavy trunk up into the air, and faster than Erza could follow, the real Naruto who was standing at the bottom of the trunk made several waving moves with his arms.

As the tree crashed back to the ground, all of the clones dispelled in brief clouds of smoke, and the tree broke apart... into perfect square pieces of lumber. Looking back to Erza, Naruto couldn't keep the smirk off his face when he saw the look of pure disbelief on hers.

"T-That was... I don't know what to think. I could probably have done something similar with swords, but it would take a lot of practice. How long have you been doing this?"

The blond looked up towards the newly visible patch of sky in the tree canopy. "Probably about a year or so. My... companions and I used to travel a lot, and if we ever wanted to stay in one place for a decent period of time, I was responsible for gathering materials since I could do it so fast."

Erza had since moved towards the sliced up wood, gently dragging her fingers across the smooth cuts.

"This is fascinating. How did you slice this log, anyway? I don't believe I could make cuts this smooth with my weapons even if I tried."

Mulling over exactly how to explain his elemental manipulation, Naruto settled for shrugging at her and trying to simplify it as much as possible.

"You said you read my file, right?"

A nod. "Yes."

"I put down that I'm a Jack of all Trades. To most people, they'll say that I can do a little bit of everything. I have some techniques that I can perform that manipulate the elements."

Erza's eyes looked like saucers. "All of them?"

Naruto began to sweat. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to explain it this way. The random elemental techniques he managed to pick up in his home dimension were fairly common, and no one would give him a second glance if he performed any of them. It seemed like that was a different matter entirely in Earthland.

"Well... yes and no. I guess you could say that I'm specially attuned to being able to use wind and water techniques. I can perform various others using lightning, fire, and earth, but they use a lot of my energy and aren't what I'd call strong."

The redhead's eyes were still wide, and she was looking down at the sliced up wood on the ground.

"So this must have been wind magic then. I knew it was strong, but I've never seen it used up close like this."

"It's strong, and yes, it can be incredibly destructive. But it will only do what the user wants it to do. So it can be used to strengthen and reinforce as well."

"How?"

Naruto shrugged, moving his hands into a familiar sign. "It can cool you down as a gentle breeze on a hot day, or it can strengthen an ally who uses fire by feeding the flames. Like all elements, it's all in the intent."

As soon as he finished talking, he briefly concentrated once again and a multitude of popping noises filled the small clearing. Several dozen clones immediately turned and started looking for trees without a word from the original.

"So many clones... and they're all solid?"

"Yep. I'm a one man army."

Erza giggled a little at that, a sound which Naruto was honestly surprised to hear from her, not that he was complaining. When she finally regained control, she asked another question that he didn't recall ever being asked before.

"So, how many can you make?"

He actually had to sit and think about that one for a moment. "You know... I'm not sure. I've never really bothered to count how many I make. The most I've probably ever made at one time is close to a thousand."

"That's incredible. You really are a one man army."

"Yeah, the only thing is, the more I make, the weaker each one is, and the shorter its life. If I only make one, it can last for a few hours and can do almost everything I can do normally. If I make a hundred, they'll last for maybe an hour, and can only do a couple of my techniques before they run out of energy and dispel."

Erza looked around at the multitude of clones, listening to the crashing noises coming from various places around them. "I wish I could make clones, it seems like it would be really convenient. I'm envious."

Naruto looked carefully at the girl out of the corner of his eye, pretending to watch some of his clones in the distance. He wasn't comfortable giving out any of his techniques; it was way too early for that. But Erza had come to apologize to him earlier even when she hadn't really done anything particularly wrong other than looking down on him a little.

Still, she seemed to be very well respected within Fairy Tail, or at least that's the vibe he got from other members. It might be useful to have an influential ally down the road, just in case.

"Well, I could try to teach it to you, but I'm not sure how well it would work. You need to have a lot of magic power to begin with, so I'll have to spar against you just to see how much you have. If you have enough, then I'll try to teach you."

Erza immediately perked up at the sound of the word 'spar', and a somewhat sly grin started to spread across her face. "You do realize they call me 'Titania Erza' for a reason, don't you?"

"The 'Queen of the Fairies'? That's supposed to imply that you're the strongest female in the guild, right?"

"A-Actually, yes. I'm surprised you know about it... you always make it sound like you're from far away."

"I am, but I made sure to do a little research when I got here. Your name is consistently at the top of lists, so it's hard not to want to know what it means."

If Erza was at all surprised by this, she didn't show it, and seemed to take it all in stride. "What about you? Why do you have the code name 'Fire Shadow'?"

Naruto looked back up to the sky again. "Where I came from, the strongest warrior in both mind and body, and who gained the utmost respect of the people was called the Fire Shadow. Each country had it's own version of it's 'Shadow', so there was also other strong warriors like the Earth Shadow and the Wind Shadow. Plus, when I got here, I was given a mission where the name 'Fire Shadow' seemed to fit. So I decided to use it."

"Another mission?"

Naruto shook his head negatively. "I'll tell you some other time, perhaps. It's too long a story, and the person responsible asked me not to talk about it. Master Makarov knows, but he's the only one."

"I see. Well, if Master belives you should keep it to yourself, then I will trust in his descision."

"Thank you."

Erza waved it off. "Thanks aren't necessary. I know better than to pry where I shouldn't."

Silence settled over the duo as they listened to the muffled noises of clones working in the forest. The stack of logs and lumber was steadily growing larger as they had talked, and Naruto figured that it was likely he had enough to successfully finish the mission. Before he called a halt to the clones, however, he decided to tease the girl sitting nearby, just to gauge her reaction.

"Oh, by the way, I should probably warn you for when we spar... I was never called the Fire Shadow where I come from, but there was another word that was constantly applied to me."

"Really? What's that?"

Naruto turned to look at the redhead with a rather sinister grin, "Unpredictable."

Much to his surprise, Erza simply blinked, then grinned back.

* * *

The trip into town was a quiet one, Erza had gone silent on the way back after seeing Naruto make yet another army of clones to carry all of the collected logs and lumber. Naruto was content to let her think, he had already given her more information about himself than he had planned on after only knowing her for a day.

Perhaps she reminded him of Sakura, which is why he immediately felt comfortable around her. Maybe there was some part of him that would be naturally vulnerable to her as a result. Regardless of that, he was content humming to himself for most of the way back, looking up at the trees and passively wishing that he could be up there jumping from branch to branch, feeling the wind blow through is hair.

He arrived at the office of the construction company that had placed the order barely two hours after grabbing the job from the board in the guild, and at first the foreman just sat behind his desk and stared at him incredulously. Naruto got the impression that if Erza wasn't standing there with him, he likely would have been kicked out of the office.

The blond felt nothing but sweet satisfaction when he finally managed to drag the foreman to their company warehouse, only for him to nearly fall over in shock as he saw how full it was, and with some of the logs already pre-cut into usable lumber. The man had tears in his eyes as he shook Naruto's hand vigorously, apologizing over and over again for doubting the claims of the new 'Fire Shadow' of Fairy Tail, and promised to make it up to him, since they'd be able to start work two weeks ahead of schedule.

Naruto and Erza watched as workers started filing into the warehouse, many of which began cheering that they'd be able to start their work so soon, and were looking forward to a bonus. It didn't take long for the foreman to return to the duo, to hand Naruto the job completion paperwork, as well as a rather hefty bonus for going so far and above the requirements of the job.

At first Naruto felt guilty at getting such a large amount, and was about to return it, until Erza grabbed his arm.

"It's sometimes considered rude not to accept whatever the client chooses to give you. After all, you did complete the terms of the contract, and the client has given you the stated reward, but since the client put in the request he is able to add to the reward as he sees fit until you report to the guild and close the mission."

"But... it's so much. I just feel wrong."

The foreman chuckled a little, gaining the attention of the Fairy Tail members. "I wouldn't worry about it, sonny. Most of the bonus I gave you was going to go to the sawmill for their services to slice up the lumber. I just gave you what I would have given them for the lumber you already cut up for me."

Naruto groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Great, now I feel like I'm robbing others of their livelihood."

He noticed Erza frown, but the foreman just laughed outright. "Wow, it's not every day I get to meet a mage that's willing to empathize with us ordinary citizens. You shouldn't concern yourself too much, we only have one sawmill in this town and they are currently overwhelmed. Magnolia Town is rapidly expanding, and they can't meet the lumber demand. Hell, I'll let them know what you did and they might even pay for your services to help them catch up."

Naruto was surprised, but reluctantly agreed to take the bonus, which seemed to amuse both the foreman and Erza to no end. As they were leaving the building, completion papers and money in hand, Erza decided to offer her opinion.

"I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by you today."

"I did say I'm unpredictable."

Erza smiled, but still shook her head. "That wasn't what I meant. I'm referring to your work with the clones, your wind techniques, going above and beyond the job requirements, and then turning down the bonus after that. Just who are you, Naruto?"

The blond scratched at the back of his head and grinned. "I understood life's lessons really well, I guess? If I'm gonna make a name for myself, I'd rather have people respect me with a smile instead of shivering in fear."

The redhead stopped walking suddenly, and Naruto stopped and turned to see why. She was looking at him, and giving him a small smile.

"Is something wrong?"

Again, she shook her head. "Nothing at all. You've just cemented my trust in you; I'm glad to call you a friend."

That said, she walked up, grabbed his bicep and briefly squeezed it, then continued walking as she talked over her shoulder. "Welcome to Fairy Tail. It's a good home. I hope we'll be able to work together in the future. I've got some errands to run, so I'll see you later!"

Waving over her shoulder, she promptly disappeared around a corner, completely missing the frown on Naruto's face.

It had only been one day, and he already had one person's heart he was going to break when he went home. Why did it have to happen to him?

**Because Kami loves you.**

_You're not helping right now, Kyuubi._

**According to you, what else is new?**

_You know... you're right, Kami does love me. Enough to stick me with the one being that will never let me feel good._

**Just go kill something, you'll feel loads better, I promise.**

_I know I'll feel better if I kill you._

**Oh, big words, little human. You know you can't, you need me.**

Naruto mentally sighed. Of the tailed demons, why did he have to have to get the snarky one?

**Because Kami loves you.**

_Aaargh!_

_

* * *

_**A/N:** I know this chapter might seems shorter, that's because it is. There was another scene, but it flows much better with chapter 4, so the next chapter will likely be a little longer as a result. Since this chapter is shorter, I am going to take a moment to explain some facts about where I'm going with this fic, both to answer some reviewers questions, and to alleviate some questions that I know are going to come in the near future.

_Ages - _I'm just going to clarify this one more time. In Naruto's home dimension, the Fourth Shinobi War has been going on there for a while, and Naruto just turned 17 while in Earthland. He's matured a lot as a warrior during the past year of warfare, so he's not _too_ different, but he's definitely changed, and it's noticeable. As for the Fairy Tail gang, this takes place approximately 4 years before Lucy meets Natsu. There are some reference points that reviewers picked up on, like Lisanna still being alive and Gildarts preparing to leave for his mission. This places Naruto as the eldest of the main characters in Fairy Tail - Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza. I was contemplating going with a younger Naruto, but my ideas worked best when he was older than all the others.

_Plot - _I obviously don't want to spoil much here. It will merge into the main Fairy Tail plot eventually. Will the Elemental Nations ever appear again? Maybe. Will the Dragons ever reappear? Maybe. Will there be some Erza x Jellal angst? Maybe. There will be Fairy Tail canon changes, but naturally I'm not gonna say what they are. You're just gonna have to trust that I can entertain you.

_Power - _As he is right now, Naruto could mop the floor with a good ninety percent or more of all the mages he encounters. The reason behind this will be explained, so just have a little patience and it shall be made clear. Right now he would likely only have a difficult time if ganged up on; or if he fought a powerful dark mage who had nothing to lose. The interesting thing is, Naruto's main objective in this dimension is to find his way home, and he's trying to avoid drawing attention to himself so he won't make too many friends as he doesn't want to hurt them (or be hurt himself) when he manages to find his way home. But everyone knows that Naruto usually pulls out all the stops when friends are in danger, so it will be a very conflicted Naruto that we see. On the other hand, showing more power means more acknowledgment, which likely opens other venues where people might know about dimension hopping. Quite the conundrum...

_Techniques - _There will be plenty of easily recognizable stuff, plus a few new things here and there thrown in for good measure. Don't expect too much in this area until Naruto starts having to go all out.

_Jack-of-all-Trades - _Why does Naruto describe himself this way? Because he literally is the 'Jack-of-all-Trades, Master of None'. He's good at a little bit of everything, but even he doesn't believe that he's mastered his use of clones. Naruto's pure versatility is what gives him a major advantage over the mages of Earthland. He's picked up a lot of stuff during the war, nothing spectacular but useful things nonetheless. Makarov will consider Naruto to be his 'Wild Card' of sorts. He's unpredictable and can be anything Makarov wants or needs him to be. Even, perhaps, an enemy? *hums innocently*


	4. A Challenger Has Appeared

Chapter 4

Two hands slapping down onto his table caused Naruto to look up and see who performed the offensive gesture. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second when they spotted a messy mop of pink hair. His first thought was that it was Sakura... but it barely took a moment for him to remember where he was, and he actually relaxed.

Finishing the ramen that he had shoveled into his mouth before he was interrupted, Naruto carefully set his bowl and chopsticks down on the table and raised an eyebrow at Natsu.

"Can I do something for you?"

The blond immediately had a finger pointed right in his face.

"Fight me!"

Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes, he knew this would be coming sooner or later. After having been a member of Fairy Tail for a little over a week now, he felt that he had pretty much every one of the more regular members figured out. Natsu would always challenge anyone who he thought was stronger or he identified as a threat... Naruto figured he was probably both to the Dragon Slayer.

"Do I have to?"

That simple question seemed to throw Natsu for a loop. His eyes opened a bit and his mouth hung open, apparently he was used to either simply getting right into the fight or being turned down immediately.

"W-Well yeah! I challenged you, didn't I?"

It was about this time that Naruto noticed the entire hall had gone quiet. Sure, Natsu yelled loud enough so that people on the other side of the town likely heard him, but seeing as how Naruto completed every mission he'd gotten in record time, he was quickly becoming known within the guild.

Everyone was likely curious as to exactly how strong he was. The guild probably used Natsu as a test dummy for new members, though Natsu was likely oblivious to the whole thing.

"Well, alright I guess. I've got some time to kill anyway. Where are we doing this?"

Natsu almost started hopping around in front of him. "Yeah! Alright, we'll go right out front! Follow me!"

No sooner had Natsu finished speaking, almost the entire hall started standing up to go follow him. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

**It seems you're quite the curiosity.**

_I'm trying to be discrete, but it seems I'm only drawing more attention to myself._

**That's because you're impatient. I mean, seriously... you've completed more jobs alone this week than most teams finish in a month. What were you thinking?**

_That I needed money badly?_

**Money money money. Ever since we got here, that's all you think about. Live out in the wild like I used to!**

_Thanks, but no thanks. I'm used to at least living somewhat comfortably. Besides, I'm going to need money to get the information and supplies I'll likely need to find my way home._

**Why do you still want to go back to that place?**

_You mean you don't?_

**I don't really care. I don't like it there, but I don't like it here either. I'm an equal opportunity hater.**

_How charming._

Naruto idly watched as a rather large semicircle formed around where he was facing off against Natsu. Everyone was chattering about excitedly, and it looked like a few people had a betting pool going. While Natsu was stretching, Naruto tried to locate any familiar faces in the crowd. The only ones he spotted immediately were two of the white haired siblings, Elfman and Lisanna. They were all talking quietly with each other as they watched Natsu stretch.

Happy looked to be sleeping soundly in Lisanna's arms. He found the little blue cat to be quite the oddity. Apparently Happy was an Exceed, though he didn't know it. When he mentioned it to the cat, Happy merely looked at him strangely and offered him a fish. He accepted the fish to be polite, then was amused as he and Natsu got into a belching contest, much to Lisanna and Mirajane's disgust.

"So why are you so eager to fight me anyway, Natsu?"

Natsu paused in the middle of one of his stretches, looking surprised at first, then slightly agitated.

"Because I'm tired of listening to Erza talk about _you_. The past few days, she keeps telling me that I should look up to you and be more like _you_!" Natsu's volume dropped as he continued talking, "Besides, you seem kinda boring to me. I mean, you're good at basic missions, but I never see you do anything else."

"So then why are you challenging me now when Erza isn't here?"

Natsu lifted a fist and shook it. "Because she won't let me challenge you when she's around! She says I could learn a lot by training under you too, but I don't believe it. Igneel is the only teacher I'll ever need!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit when Natsu mentioned the dragon. He wanted to say that he met Igneel, and the two of them acted exactly alike, but had to bite his tongue. He _did_ make a promise not to say anything.

"I'm surprised that Erza won't let you fight me. I normally don't see her stopping you from challenging everyone else, even Gildarts." The buzz of conversation picked up in the crowd surrounding them, apparently everyone else was wondering what this meant now too.

Natsu frowned, he looked like he remembered something but didn't want to say what it was. Naruto decided to start slipping into a combat stance, but to his surprise Natsu answered him.

"Erza says that with my current level of training I can't touch you. She says that if I can't beat her, there's no way I'd be able to beat you."

That caused the chatter to pick up in volume, even Naruto found his eyebrows raising. After his little demonstration for her, she made a point to hang around him whenever he arrived at the guild hall, and would talk to him regularly before and after he left. She even made a point to stop by his apartment before she left to tell him that she'd be gone for a few days. Not even his teammates back home were like that.

Naruto appreciated her attention, to be sure – she was a pretty girl, and obviously strong from what he'd heard; though he had yet to see her in action. Still, he was trying not to get more comfortable with her than he already was, he just figured that she was treating him like she would treat most of her friends.

What really threw him for a loop was this latest bit of information. Erza was obviously strict with both Natsu and Gray, but anyone would also have to be blind not to see that she doted on the two of them as if they were her little brothers. She had stopped Natsu from challenging him, which meant that she was either thinking that she'd protect Natsu, keep Natsu from annoying him with challenges... or she had some other plan.

"Well, since you challenged me, it's on. Are we going to have a referee?"

"I'll do it."

Murmurs filled the crowd once again, though Naruto was able to pick up the awed exclamations of 'Master!' from amidst the din. He couldn't help but get the distinct impression that Makarov didn't often watch these little spars... even Natsu was looking surprised.

The Guild Master moved through the gap in the crowd that was made for him, then promptly sat down on the ground slightly inside the ring of onlookers. Looking around once more, Naruto realized that the crowd was even bigger than before. Civilians were stopping to watch now, too.

**Can I come out to play?**

_Not this time. The last thing I need right now is for people to run away screaming. Besides, I don't want to kill the kid._

**Aw, you're no fun.**

_Sure I am. I just think you'd be misunderstood. 'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slice him in half with a fingernail!' I can see that going over really well with the crowd._

The Kyuubi simply snorted in his mind, and chose not to reply. Naruto began to focus on Natsu once again, who was chatting animatedly with Makarov.

"It doesn't matter, Master! I'm gonna win this one!"

Whatever they were talking about previously, Naruto missed it as he was having his own private conversation. Makarov didn't look like he was willing to continue it either, as he settled for sighing and shaking his head at Natsu. It was then that he turned his attention to the blond.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"Go easy on young Natsu. He still has a lot to learn."

Before Naruto could reply, Natsu started getting all agitated at Makarov for not having faith in him, and flames began coming out of his mouth as he shouted about being underestimated. For a second Naruto felt a pang of sympathy for the younger teen, but it didn't last much longer than that. Natsu was obviously younger than he was... and he doubted the boy in front of him had actually killed anyone yet.

Naruto didn't feel that he actually grew up until the first time he stabbed a kunai into an enemy samurai's head. _That_ was a wake-up call. He'd never truly had blood on his hands before that. Once the first one passed, though... many, many more followed. Such is war.

"Are you ready, Natsu?"

Naruto interrupted Natsu's ranting, and the younger teen immediately adopted a serious expression, nodding at him. Grinning slightly, Naruto started getting down into a ready stance. Left foot forward and right foot back while crouching down slightly, he kept his arms close to his sides with his palms facing outward.

The crowd began to murmur again, causing Naruto's grin to grow larger. They all thought he was a mage, and probably figured he was going to use his 'magic'. He wasn't going to use that unless he had to... he was a shinobi. Only the small grin on Makarov's face threatened to give him away, but everyone else was too oblivious to even consider what the Guild Master could have been grinning about.

Natsu wasted no time, however, and with a mighty roar he simply charged at Naruto, a flame surrounding each of his fists.

_So this is what Igneel talked about. Dragon Slayers are like me in that they can control their element somewhat without needing any control seals._

**That pitiful amount of flame won't even scratch us.**

_I know. I should probably establish now just how out of his league I am. Perhaps I can help him train a little, if he's willing to accept._

**He's probably too proud for that. I can already tell. The bigger the mouth, the bigger the ego. Wasn't it you who said that?**

_Yeah. I used to be like that once. Back before... I knew what the world was really like._

**I would have told you, but it likely would have melted your puny little brain.**

_I know I've asked this before, but can't we have one conversation without you insulting me?_

**Hmm... let me think about that again. Nope.**

Internally rolling his eyes, Natsu was almost on top of him by the time he snapped back to reality. With a quick sidestep, Natsu's swing completely missed him, and the younger boy went tumbling end over end.

The crowd chuckled, but it was barely a moment before Natsu was back on his feet, jumping about in a rage. All the movement had apparently woken Happy up, because the blue cat was currently flying in slow circles around Natsu, telling him to calm down and concentrate.

"Hey, old man."

Makarov looked at Naruto and simply arched an eyebrow.

"Should I just end it to prove a point?"

Chuckling, the Guild Master shrugged. "It's your bout. I'm just making sure it doesn't get out of hand."

"Okay then." Naruto smirked at Makarov, then decided to sit down. He kept the smile off his face as the murmurs from the crowd started getting louder again. Taking a quick glance around, most people had expressions of pure shock on their faces.

It didn't take long for people to start shouting at Natsu, likely people who placed bets on him winning, trying to point out that Naruto was vulnerable. The pink haired teen stopped for a moment, before pointing at Naruto and yelling at him yet again.

"Hey! What are you doing? Stand up and take this fight seriously!"

Naruto snorted. "I will as soon as you actually start fighting me. Is this all Igneel taught you, how to do a lot of yelling?"

_That_ comment definitely succeeded in doing what Naruto intended. Natsu's glare dropped to glacial levels, and he imagined that he was likely getting some pretty serious glares from people in the audience as well.

"I'll show you what being a Dragon Slayer is all about." Flames started to flicker and appear around Natsu, enveloping him in what looked like a cloak of fire.

"Good, I've been waiting. I'll even let you get one good hit in before I retaliate. Come on."

Some in the crowd jeered at that proclamation by Naruto, apparently they believed that Natsu would be able to finish it in one punch, and they felt that the blond was going to make them lose their bets. Natsu didn't waste any time, and immediately started charging where Naruto was sitting.

Natsu pulled his fist back again, and Naruto noticed that he was easily moving twice as fast as before. So the Dragon Slayer was finally taking him seriously...

A loud booming noise filled the area as Natsu brought his flame-coated fist to the ground, and it appeared to many that Naruto was crushed underneath it. A dust cloud erupted from where Natsu's fist forced Naruto to the ground, and bits of rubble from the stone street were kicked up and sent away from the impact site.

"Hah! I told you that I'd show you what it means to be a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu grinned viciously at the unconscious form of Naruto under his fist. He looked like he was about to say more until the Naruto underneath his hand inexplicably burst into a small cloud of smoke.

"W-What the? What happened to Naruto, where'd he go?"

"Natsu! Behind you!"

The teen looked up to see Happy yelling for him to watch out, frantically pointing behind him with tears in his eyes.

"That was a nice hit. But you've still got a lot to learn, little brother."

Natsu's eyes went wide before he collapsed in a heap at Naruto's feet.

"Na... Na-Natsu! Are you dead? You can't die! Nooo!"

"Happy, relax... he's just sleeping. I hit a pressure point in his neck, he'll wake up in a few minutes. Just let him rest."

The little blue cat looked up at Naruto with teary eyes, then nodded and sat down next to Natsu's head, and slowly began patting at the teen's cheek. Seeing a shadow get larger on the ground next to him, Naruto turned his head to see Lisanna walking up. He gave her a nod, but she was either too focused on Natsu or was pointedly ignoring him, because she continued to walk past him and squatted down near Natsu's prone form.

Sighing slightly, Naruto turned away and walked over towards the Guild Master. Makarov wasn't smiling, but he didn't look upset either.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Yes."

"You sound so certain. Dare I ask why?"

Naruto closed his eyes as he thought about how best to answer. "I needed to give him a goal. A more... realistic one."

One of Makarov's eyebrows twitched up slightly. "Oh? His current goal isn't satisfactory?"

"His current goal is more of a dream. You can't find a dragon that doesn't want to be found. For him, the goal I'm giving him is more realistic, and will help him accomplish his dream as well."

Makarov was silent for several moments, Naruto listened to the bustle of his other guild mates and civilians as they returned back to their business. Finally, the old man nodded, and turned to walk back towards the guild. "Very well, Naruto. I leave Natsu's future development in your hands. Make him a man that Fairy Tail can be proud of."

"You got it, old man."

Naruto started following Makarov back into the guild, suddenly realizing that he never got to finish his ramen from before. It was probably all cold and totally soggy now, he'd have to order a new one. Oh well, at least money wasn't in short supply anymore.

"Ow... my neck is sore now. Wait... hey, Naruto! Naruto! Come back here and fight fair this time! No dirty tricks! Hey, can you hear me Naruto! Narutooooo!"

* * *

"The Fire Shadow of Fairy Tail, A Truly Scandalous Sorcerer?"

Naruto frowned as he read one of the sentences on the cover, then proceeded to flip through the latest issue of Weekly Sorcerer. Even if it was a gossip rag, they sometimes had decent information in them, and he needed every advantage he could get in this dimension.

As his eyes scanned the article, his frown only grew deeper. Most of the information here was based on half-truths, likely from people who witnessed his fight with Natsu, or at least part of it. They tried to mock it up in the article, stating that he had a problem with the up and coming 'Salamander', and they had it out in public. Some kind of reliable sources all stated that he barely pulled out a win over the Salamander, and only by using some dirty tricks.

Naruto dropped the magazine on the table and rubbed at his forehead. This was not the kind of reputation he needed.

"I wouldn't let what's in that magazine to get to you. They just throw articles together for the excitement factor. If you want real news, wait for the newspaper."

Naruto looked up to see Lisanna giving him a small smile as she sat down across from him.

"Yeah... I figured as much. But still, how many people might take what this magazine says as the entire truth?"

Lisanna cracked a smile at that, and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure that most people only read it for entertainment, and for when the swimsuit issue comes out."

"Swimsuit issue?" Naruto perked up a bit, which quickly changed Lisanna's smile into a frown.

"Yes... they have one. What is it with you boys?"

Naruto quickly looked away, humming. "I don't know. Must be hormones."

Chuckling this time, Lisanna simply chose to ignore it. "Well, whatever. I actually came over here to apologize"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, looking at her quizically. "Apologize? For what?"

"I ignored you yesterday, after the... spar. I admit I was a little upset about how you beat Natsu, but at least you didn't drag it out. So I guess I also wanted to say thank you. Sometimes Natsu will keep going, taking more damage than he should. It happens all the time when he picks fights with Gray, and sometimes even Erza."

Grinning, Naruto propped his head in his hands. "Well, I always trained to finish a fight in the most efficient way possible. I'll admit to getting a bit aggravated because he was doing more talking than fighting. If I was a real opponent, he'd have been dead or incapacitated."

Lisanna looked down at her hands in her lap. "I know. After I talked to him yesterday, he seemed to be humbled... which is rare for Natsu, believe me. I think he sees you as a sort of rival now, even more than Gray."

"I don't really need a rival. But if he wants training, I can at least teach him how to fight."

"I'll let him know you're offering the next time I see him."

Silence descended over the two of them, and Lisanna reached over to grab at the magazine Naruto had discarded. She left it on the table in front of her, fingers running over the words on the cover.

"Find love in the stars. Seven tips to finding your perfect partner by comparing astrological signs. Now this I have _got_ to read."

Naruto ran his hand over his face as he groaned, causing Lisanna to start giggling.

"I'm just kidding. I don't believe in stuff like that. Did you really think I was serious?"

Snorting, the blond looked away. "I don't know what to think with you guys. This is the only place I can think of where people laugh as they throw chairs and punch each other."

"Yeah, that is true. I guess we are a crazy bunch."

"Yep, and that's why I fit right in."

Lisanna smiled at him for a moment then looked towards the bar, where there was a clock on the wall.

"Hmmm... Mirajane isn't back yet..."

"Something wrong?"

Lisanna shook her head slowly. "No... or at least I hope not. Laxus asked her to come on an S-Class mission as backup for his team. They were due back a few hours ago, but they still aren't here yet."

"I'm sure they're fine. From what I've heard about Laxus and his team, I doubt they encountered any problems."

A small smile started spreading across Lisanna's face, until she nodded at him. "You're probably right. I'm worrying over nothing."

A comfortable silence settled over the two of them, Naruto began watching the clock and waiting for the job board to update. He didn't notice as the white haired girl across from him began fidgeting slightly.

"She's sorry, by the way."

Naruto blinked, caught totally off guard. "Huh? Who's sorry this time?"

"My sister. Mirajane."

"Oh. _Ohhh._"

Lisanna nodded. "She wanted to apologize personally, but she went on a mission the next day. Well... she did have some time to find you and apologize, but she's never found it easy to say 'sorry'. Part of that is the fault of her magic ability."

"Her magic affects her personality?"

"Yes. Mirajane's main ability is called Satan Soul. She summons a demon to reside in her soul, and they merge. She gains incredible power, but if she loses focus she can lose control of the merger, so she always has to be careful."

**Sounds familiar.**

_Are you thinking what I'm thinking?_

**That now's a good time to show our real power and take control of this dimension? Yes!**

_... never mind._

"It sounds rather hard to maintain control of something like that, I bet she has to practice a lot. I was curious why her personality seems to shift a lot, sometimes she's really nice, and other times if looks could kill I would have been dead several times over."

When Lisanna didn't reply, and instead sat there blinking at him with a blank look, Naruto grew concerned.

"What's wrong?"

Shaking her head and breaking out of the stupor she was in, Lisanna sounded surprised. "I think you're the first person who's ever accepted what my sister does, and been understanding about it at the same time. Most of the time people will be afraid and start acting strange around her. Even most of the guild members still tread carefully around her."

"It's a situation I can relate to, where I came from. So I understand what it feels like for her."

"Oh?"

Lisanna obviously wanted him to continue explaining, but Naruto held up a finger and wagged it back and forth.

"Now now, I can't go spilling all my secrets at once, or no one will find me interesting anymore. I won't be the Fire Shadow anymore, I'll just be 'that guy'. That won't be any fun."

Naruto finished with a little pout on his face, and Lisanna couldn't help but chuckle, then sigh.

"Fine, but I expect to hear all about it someday."

"Eventually I'll tell everyone. But for now, I like the aura of mystery that surrounds me."

Lisanna smirked. "Whatever. Erza seems to have taken a liking to you, I'll just ask her to discover all your secrets. She's good at getting people to talk."

Naruto snorted. "From what I've heard around here, she's good at beating people up. That won't work if she can't catch me."

Instead of replying, Lisanna simply stuck her tongue out at him, causing the blond to laugh. He settled down when the clock behind the bar chimed noon, and one of the guild custodians walked over to the job board with a stack of papers in his hands.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go see if there is anything of interest on the board."

"Sure."

Naruto swiftly moved over towards the job board. Looking around, it seemed like there wouldn't be much competition today. Most of the people he'd come to consider friends were already out on jobs, and the few people that were here he didn't know well enough to know what kind of jobs they'd be after, so he'd have to read the descriptions fast.

The moment the custodian moved away from the board, a small group moved in and started looking over the new jobs, Naruto included. Right away his eyes landed on one with a decent sum as the reward, and judging by the picture on it, the job was in his area of expertise.

Grabbing the mission request, he pulled it off the board. He didn't hear any mumbling as he walked away from the board, which caused him no small amount of relief. He'd seen the bickering that could happen if mission requests were fought over, and he really didn't have the patience to deal with that. Makarov would likely be upset if he used his rasengan to settle any potential disputes as well.

Walking back over to the table, he noticed Lisanna had flipped open the magazine again, and was apparently skimming through the pages.

"Do you know where Natsu is?"

Looking up, Lisanna nodded. "He shares an apartment with some of the other guys from the guild. He should still be there, he didn't seem like he was in a hurry to do anything. Happy says he's still grumpy about losing yesterday."

Chuckling, Naruto showed the job request to Lisanna. "This is a job right up my alley."

Lisanna grabbed the request and started reading it. "Please help our town. A hermit mage that lived in the forest nearby for many years has gone mad and has started using his magic to animate the corpses of the deceased. The corpses are wreaking havoc in our town. We will pay handsomely for anyone to take care of the hermit, and give a bonus if you bring him to us alive. He was always helping travelers in the past and was a very kind man. We hope he can be saved."

"What do you think?"

"It sounds like it could be a tough job. You sound confident that you can do it, though."

Naruto nodded. "I'll be fine. I was going to ask if you and Natsu want to come along. I'll go after the hermit, but before I do that I'm going to teach Natsu how to fight. The corpses are pretty much zombies, so he'll be able to go all out with what I'm going to teach him."

Lisanna's eyes were sparking. "Lets do it! Come with me!"

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

Mage Council Classification: C-Rank mage, based on client and witness reports.  
Notes: Uses solid clones to perform labor, or as a distraction. Has been said to be able to teleport small distances, but this claim has not been confirmed.

Member Since: October 21st, 782 (1 week, 1 day)  
Completed Solo Missions: 15  
Completed Team Missions: 0  
Reward to Date: 136,540 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** Review answers, on a point by point basis:

_Evil Naruto_ - He can still be on an opposing side without being 'evil'.

_Harem_ - Not likely. I don't want Erza to skewer me. I have to hard of a time imagining Erza being okay with a harem, and if I can't imagine it, I can't write it. At least not well. _**IF**_ I was to make a harem (which I'm not), I'd probably toss in Lucy, Sherry, and perhaps Evergreen.

_Toads_ - He hasn't thought about it. Situations changed for him back home in regards to the toads, which will be explained when he does finally remember. Recall that Naruto is, in essence, a one man army.

_Sage Mode and Kyuubi_ - All in good time.


	5. Zombies Plus Brains Equals Cliché

Chapter 5

"Well, we've arrived. The trip didn't take as long as I thought it might."

"We got here really fast! What the hell are you talking about; just how fast do you normally travel?" Natsu whirled on him, looking incredulous.

Naruto gave the younger teen a small smile as he shrugged. "I don't know how fast you normally travel, and my method of traveling is a bit different from what almost everyone else does. We could have used a carriage, but apparently someone doesn't like transportation."

Natsu started to huff, but Lisanna tried to change the subject away from that particular topic.

"Naruto, how do you normally travel? Teleportation?" Lisanna was looking at him with a small frown, apparently exasperated that the two of them had almost gotten into another fight. Natsu had been trying to pick a fight with Naruto for nearly the entire trip, but Naruto kept blowing him off, irritating the pink haired teen to no end.

The blond just chuckled and shook his head this time. "I don't teleport long distances. That would drain my energy too fast."

"Ohhhh, you can fly? Where are your wings?" Happy decided to walk around Naruto to look at his back, staring expectantly as if wings would immediately appear.

"No, Happy, I don't have wings and I can't fly. Sorry."

"Awww, I wanted to have someone to fly with."

"I can run really fast. I bet I can run faster than you can fly."

In a perfect imitation of Natsu, Happy planted his feet apart and pointed a finger up at Naruto. "I challenge you!"

Natsu laughed and cheered at Happy, while Lisanna sighed and scooped Happy up into her arms. "Now now, you two, we're on a job. You're free to do whatever you want when we're done and going home, okay?"

"Aye..."

Grinning, Naruto started leading the group into the town. Pulling out a map of the village that he picked up back in Magnolia Town, he looked at it for a few seconds before turning it upside down. "Uhhh..."

Lisanna and Natsu approached on either side of him.

"We're here, right?"

Naruto saw Natsu nod from his peripheral vision. "I think so. That's the path we took, isn't it?"

"I don't know, I usually suck at reading maps."

"You both are impossible, you know that? Naruto, turn the map clockwise one time."

Naruto did as Lisanna instructed, then the girl pointed down near the bottom of the map. "This is where we came from. See here where it says 'To Magnolia Town'?"

"Wow, Lisanna, you're great at reading maps!"

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?"

The white haired girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why it's so hard for you guys to read a map. But that's besides the point. This village isn't very big, so we just need to go visit the mayor at his house right here," Lisanna pointed to a large square on the map titled 'Mayor'. "Once that's done, he should be able to tell us where this hermit was last seen."

"Right, lets go!" Without warning, Natsu abruptly shouted out and started running into the village. With a loud 'Aye!', Happy broke out of Lisanna's arm that was holding him and started flying after the Dragon Slayer.

"We should probably follow them quickly before they get lost in this place. It may not be that big of a village, but Natsu is horrible at paying attention unless he gets to fight someone. He'll probably keep running until he gets to the other side of the village."

Naruto laughed as Lisanna rubbed her forehead and sighed. Without saying anything further, Naruto made a couple clones and had them speed off ahead of them.

"Clones?"

"Yeah, they'll jump from roof to roof and look for Natsu, and keep him from moving too far."

"Jumping on the roofs of the buildings? Really?"

Naruto just smiled. "Oh, my... you learned something else about me."

"Well... yeah, I guess. But that still sounds crazy."

"I thought we already established that I'm a crazy person."

Lisanna simply stared at him for a moment before she broke out into laughter. "O-Okay... okay... let's get moving before Natsu decides your clones make for good sparring partners."

* * *

Compared to most of the people Naruto had picked up assignments from, the mayor of this little village was rather ordinary, much to his relief. He was a man who was getting on in years, his dark brown hair was peppered with strands of gray, and he wore some rather thick glasses. His residence was rather nondescript as well, it looked just like all the other buildings in the village, if perhaps slightly larger.

None of them wanted to waste any time, and the mayor was more than happy to indulge them. He explained that everything started about a week ago. The hermit had been living in the forests since he himself was a young teenager, and had never harmed anyone. In fact it was quite the contrary, the hermit's house was not far off from one of the main roads leading out of their village, so travelers and merchants often stopped by and asked for directions. The hermit would often come into the village to get supplies about once a week, but some in the village had noticed that he hadn't been showing up recently.

A few of the villagers went to check on the hermit to make sure he was okay, only to find that his house had been destroyed and the ground around it looked... tainted. The mayor hadn't seen it himself, so he couldn't say for certain, but the people who saw it said definitely felt evil. A couple days after they had investigated, they saw someone who looked like the hermit at the south entrance to the village, and he had dozens of zombies around him. They proceeded to terrorize the village for a little while - destroying merchant vendors, attacking livestock, and even other people if they couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

The mayor said that so far the hermit and the zombies had appeared twice more since, though luckily no one had been seriously harmed. What worried them the most is that the number of zombies was getting larger with every attack. They had checked their local graveyard to find that nearly all the graves had been ripped open. However their graveyard was rather small, they weren't a large village and had barely been where they were for about a century. That led them to believe that the hermit had been traveling around, visiting other graveyards.

Once they got all the details, as they were leaving the mayor reiterated to them that if it was possible to save the hermit, they would like to. No one believes that he would be doing what he was doing on purpose. Taking what the mayor said very seriously, the trio plus Happy agreed to give it their best efforts.

As usual, Kyuubi was the only one who disagreed about keeping the hermit alive, but Naruto figured the other three didn't need to know that.

* * *

"This definitely looks like the place. Yuck."

Naruto felt himself agreeing with Lisanna's assessment. While the hut wasn't completely destroyed, it certainly looked worse for wear. Both windows on the front were completely smudged up and had cracks all over them. The yard - if it could be called that - had completely overgrown and many of the plants close to the house looked like they were dying. The roof of the hut was made of straw, and some of it looked like it had been blackened.

"Pheeeew, it stinks here. It's times like this that I wish I didn't have such a strong sense of smell."

"What does it smell like?"

Natsu gave Naruto a funny look before scrunching up his nose and shaking his head.

"Death."

Nodding, Naruto sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. Happy started to ask him what he was doing, but Naruto held up his hand to stop the cat from talking. Much to his surprise, no one followed Happy's lead and continued pestering him.

Seeking out the forces of nature, Naruto let it flow. He was curious as to if he could learn anything from the nearby plants, especially the ones that looked sick. He started pulling the nature energy towards himself, but he didn't absorb it and simply let it pass him by. Focusing carefully, he noticed something was... off... about the nature energy. Some of it felt like it had been mixed with something else, almost as if it had been corrupted.

**It feels strange, even to me.**

_You can sense it too?_

**Yes. It's weak, but it definitely doesn't belong. It's a shame that you can't summon those amphibian friends of yours, I'm sure they would have a good explanation for you.**

_Gloating again?_

**Not my style. I prefer to rub salt in open wounds.**

Opening his eyes, he grinned as he noticed the other three staring at him curiously. Chuckling slightly, he placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm glad to report that the natural energy of this place is fine, but there is some strange lingering taint that makes it feel odd. We might be able to figure out more as we move on."

Lisanna and Natsu were blinking at him with stupefied looks, while Happy was looking back and forth between the two of them to see if either one understood what Naruto was saying.

"Natural... energy? I've never heard of that."

"Me either. I'm guessing it has something to do... with, well, nature?"

Naruto nodded at Lisanna. "Where I come from, I was known as a Sage. It pretty much just means I can feel the energy of nature that surrounds us."

The girl simply placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on, I know that there has to be more than just _that_. What would be the point in just being able to feel nature energy?"

Winking, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle once again. "Very clever. Yes, I can do more, but there is no point right now. It would take time that would be better spent working on our job."

Lisanna pouted, but nodded, agreeing with him. Glancing at Natsu, he noticed the Dragon Slayer giving him an odd look.

"Is something wrong?"

Blinking for a moment, Natsu shook his head before looking away, back towards the house. Naruto couldn't help but wonder what that was about, but decided to follow Natsu's gaze in the end. He didn't want to intrude on the hermit's property, but it was necessary to perhaps find a clue as to why these things were happening.

Walking up to the front door, Naruto grabbed the handle and pushed and pulled against it, only to find that it wouldn't budge. Just for grins, he gave a hard knock on the door.

"Hey! Old man, are you in there?"

"Shhh! Naruto, what are you doing? What if he attacks us?"

Naruto waved off Lisanna's concern. "I'm sure whatever he can do, between the four of us, we're good enough to handle it."

"You got that right. I'm not afraid of some necromancer hermit!"

"Aye!"

Lisanna groaned, "Fine, whatever."

Since they got no answer, Naruto tried one more time to open the door, but it still refused to budge. He contemplated punching his hand through the door near the handle, then opening it from the other side, but it wouldn't work if the door was barricaded from the other side.

"Natsu."

The boy's attention snapped from looking at the door to looking at Naruto's face. "Huh?"

Naruto took two steps back, and with a smile gestured at the door. "If you would be so kind."

A grin slowly worked it's way across Natsu's face, and he laughed as his fists were covered in flame. "It would be my pleasure!"

With a loud cracking noise, followed by a crash, Natsu sent the door flying off its hinges into the dark house.

"Alright! We're in!"

"Aye! Nice one, Natsu!"

Chuckling, Naruto walked in behind the chattering duo, followed shortly by Lisanna. The moment he walked into the home, an awful stench hit his nose, and Natsu pushed by him to rush back outside. Looking around, he saw that Lisanna was pinching her nose and watching Natsu - who had since gone down on his hands and knees, apparently dry heaving. Happy ran back out of the house as well, and for a blue cat, he was looking rather green.

"So this is what Natsu's nose was picking up on before. He's got a good sense of smell, to pick up on it from all the way out there."

"You recognize this... stench? Ugh... I think I'm gonna be sick too."

Naruto gestured back outside. "Why don't you go sit outside with Natsu? This smell doesn't affect me anymore. I'll make a few clones and look around, and tell you as soon as I find anything."

"How can this smell not affect you anymore? You've experienced this before?"

"Yes, actually. Where I come from, there was a lot of death. The smell was often stronger than this. It's a really long story, and we don't have the time for me to sit and tell it right now."

Frowning but nodding her head once, Lisanna poked his shoulder as she walked by, heading for the exit. "Fine, I'll hold you to that. Don't take too long in here... it's creepy."

Chuckling, Naruto nodded and watched as she left the house. Calming his own nerves, he made several clones and had them canvas the house for any clues, and also to try and figure out what was causing the smell of rotting flesh. It was highly likely that he'd find a dead body in the house, or at least a dead animal. He started walking around the entrance of the house, but didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. Moving down a hallway, he stepped foot into what looked like was a kitchen. There were utensils and a few other cooking items laying strewn about, as if someone was searching for something. Poking around in a few other places, he quickly noted that there was no food to be found anywhere. The place had obviously been ransacked.

Looking out of the back window, he noted that the back yard looked much like the front yard did. Everything was overgrown, likely by a couple weeks if the time line of events from the mayor was to be believed. There honestly wasn't much to see.

"Hey, boss."

Whirling around, Naruto looked to see his clone standing in the doorway that lead back to the hall. The clone jerked a thumb back over its shoulder.

"I didn't want to dispel and shock you, so I thought I'd warn you first. I found the hermit, it looks like he's been dead for a while. He's starting to decay. His body is upstairs in the one room, it looks like it was his bedroom."

Naruto sighed as he nodded. "Well, that sucks. Lead on."

The clone promptly turned around and headed for the stairs, Naruto quickened his pace to keep up with the clone. Looking up the steps, there was a single door at the top, that was likely the hermit's room. Upon entering, the stench became overwhelming... Naruto had to grab the collar of his new shirt and pull it up over his nose to act as even a small filter. It wasn't hard to spot the hermit, it looked like he had collapsed against the wall. As Naruto moved over to inspect the corpse, one of the clones in the room started talking.

"It looks like he's been dead for two or three weeks. He's got some weird gunk that seems to have come out of his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears, since there's something like a dried slime trail that combines, then goes out the window."

The clone pointed at each of the spots it described, including a darkened spot on the wooden floor, followed where it looked like something moved up a wall and broke through the glass window. It was shattered outward, since there were only a couple of small pieces of glass inside the room.

"Any ideas?"

The clone shook its head. "Not really, but look at this." It proceeded to pull back the collar of the dead hermit's shirt, only to show some kind of emblem just below his collarbone.

"That looks like a guild insignia. The top part looks a little like a thorny heart, or something, but nothing about it looks familiar at all."

"Here, boss."

Apparently one of the clones had managed to find a piece of paper somewhere, it had used chakra to turn the paper brown to try and trace the design onto it. It looked crude, but hopefully Natsu or Lisanna could identify it. If neither of them knew, hopefully Makarov would. His clones dispelled in bursts of smoke, and Naruto took one last look at the corpse. He recited a few lines for the deceased to rest in peace, then proceeded to head back outside. When he got there, Natsu was flicking little fireballs at Happy's feet as the cat danced, while Lisanna appeared to be examining some of the sickly looking plants.

"The hermit is dead."

The other three whirled on him immediately, all with their own exclamations. Naruto held up a hand for them to stop, and waited for them to quiet down.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but it looks like something killed the hermit from the inside out. He's been dead for about two or three weeks, which was around the time the villagers stopped seeing him. I don't know what they meant when they said they saw him attacking with zombies, though."

"Maybe he was a zombie too?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't know, this is all really stra-" His voice cut off and he whirled around, facing the trees.

**You felt that too, huh.**

_Yeah, it was brief, but it felt..._

**Like a demon, but not quite?**

_Something like that. It felt cold, but it also felt... I don't know... hollow?_

**Yes, like that. How intriguing.**

"What's going on, Naruto?"

Before Naruto could say anything, Natsu interrupted. "I smell something..." After a few more sniffs, he looked more puzzled than anything else. "It smells like my gym shorts after a long workout."

Lisanna blanched, while Happy simply looked confused and Naruto snorted.

"Who are you? What are you kids doing at my house, huh? No wait, I don't want to know, I'll just kill you and steal the answers from your warm brains instead!"

A man who looked just like the deceased hermit appeared from behind a tree, and started laughing madly. The puzzling thing about him is that he didn't look like he was entirely solid, his body kept shifting about in strange ways. On top of that, his skin was a light purple color, and his eyes were entirely black.

"Who the hell are you? Are you the one who killed the hermit?" Natsu was giving the hermit impersonator a harsh glare, and Naruto could easily see steam rising from the teen's skin.

"Kill the hermit? Kill the hermit?" The impersonator threw his head back and laughed out loud once again. That only served to piss off Natsu more. The pink haired teen looked like he was about to charge until Naruto grabbed at his arm, wincing. Natsu's skin was incredibly hot.

"You fool, you are all fools! I _am_ the hermit, and the hermit is me, you see? He wanted to live peacefully, but I wouldn't allow it. No no, all his hatred was bottled up for so long, and he was trying to keep me buried. But all it took was one slip, one little crack in his defenses, and I slipped through and took over! I took his magic power with me when I left him, leaving him an empty shell! He was just going to sit there in his house, doing nothing with all that power! I, on the other hand, am making use of it!"

**I kind of like this guy.**

_You would. He reminds me of you before I gave you the smack-down._

**Tch. You're just lucky you had Kushina to help you. Otherwise, I would have come out on top.**

_Then let Madara get his hooks into you all over again?_

**Ugh, you have a point.**

"That poor hermit... he was probably fighting against this insane... _thing..._ for years!" Lisanna looked like she wanted to cry, but was trying her best to hold the tears back.

"Thirty years, it was much to long! Or was it forty? Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore, since I'm free! I'm hungry again too... I need more information to find people like me, and your brains might have that information I need! Hand them over!"

"We can't just hand you our brains! We'd die!"

"Aye! We're not idiots!"

The impersonator looked like it sneered for a moment before Naruto could feel a small surge of magical power from it. "Fine, if you won't hand them over, I'll take them by force!"

As if on cue, hands and arms burst up from the ground around where the dead-looking plants were. There were also walking corpses that were moving out from behind trees faster than Naruto thought possible.

"For corpses, they sure move fast! Natsu, protect Lisanna and Happy! I'll see if I can take care of this impostor."

Naruto ran towards the zombies that were crawling out of the ground in front of him as he heard Natsu shout an affirmative. Feeling the heat on his back, he knew Natsu must have kicked up the heat big time. Jumping slightly, Naruto planted his foot on the skull of one of the zombies that was pushing it's way out of the terrain, only for his foot to remove the head from the moving corpse and get crushed. Blinking for a second, Naruto turned to look over his shoulder, to see the corpse moving without the head even attached. It reminded him of the Edo Tensei, though these corpses weren't regenerating.

Figuring that it was pointless to play with the puppets, Naruto pushed chakra into his legs and leaped into the air. He couldn't help but smile as he felt the wind sail past him and through his hair for the first time in a while. It was short lived, however, as he reached his target; a branch right above the purple impostor.

It looked up at him with an eerie smile. "Oh, eager to give me your brain? Are you afraid of my pets?"

Naruto snorted, looking at the ooze-thing with a frown. "Hardly. I've faced off against corpses more powerful than these could ever hope to be. I just figured it would be futile to play with the puppets when I could just deal with the puppet master right now."

Jumping down next to the fake hermit, Naruto reached a hand out and grabbed a hold of it's neck. It felt like some strange kind of goo, it was solid enough to grab, but molded around his fingers as he squeezed. The impostor didn't seem fazed at all by this, it simply looked at him with it's black eyes and toothless grin.

"I'm like a demon, you know. You don't stand a chance against me."

Instead of appearing frightened, as the sentient ooze likely expected, Naruto merely cocked an eyebrow. "Like a demon, you say?"

"Yes! Soon my power will be beyond your comprehension! Just you wait!"

"How would you like to meet a demon now?"

The ooze merely stared at him, as if it didn't understand what he was saying.

**Oh, you're actually going to let me out to play? It feels like it's been forever.**

_Yeah, just try not to go too overboard. We don't need the Magic Council or whatever they call themselves feeling your demonic aura from wherever they are. Low profile, remember?_

**Psh, like that's going to continue at the rate you're making friends. Just let me out already.**

_Fine._

Naruto closed his eyes for a second, only for them to reopen immediately. They were now a deep red with black slits going down the middle. The whisker marks on his cheeks had also deepened slightly.

**"Why hello there! I haven't been out in a while, so let's make this interesting, shall we?"**

"Wait, who are you?"

**"Well, how rude of me. I'm the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Demon Fox for short. My friends call me Foxy. Well, they would if I had any friends!"**

"W-What? The guardian of the ninth circle of the abyss? Impossible! There is no way a weak human could contain a demon like that!"

Kyuubi looked away for a moment, grumbling. **"Yeah, well, I thought the same thing once upon a time. But these pests were a little more crafty than I ever gave them credit for."**

_Hey!_

**Shut up, it's my play time!**

"That's fine. If these weak humans can control you, then it should be even easier for someone like me!" The ooze that the impostor was made of started to creep its way up Kyuubi's arm from where he was holding it. Instead of fighting it off, however, the Kyuubi just watched, grinning.

**"You want to be a demon so bad, I'll help you. Take some of my chakra to give you a head start."**

If a sentient ooze could ever look confused, this hermit impostor did. It didn't have much time to contemplate Kyuubi's words, however, as the glowing reddish black chakra started wrapping itself around the arm Kyuubi was using to hold the impostor in place. Apparently the ooze couldn't scream, it just started gurgling madly as it began to bubble and hiss from where it touched the Kyuubi's chakra.

**"What was that? It's going well and you need a little more? Sure!"**

Kyuubi's chakra began moving along the ooze, causing it to pop and hiss as it traveled along the impostors shaking body. Gradually the ooze started to loose form and cohesion, and eventually stopped making the gurgling noises as it fell into a jiggling mass at Kyuubi's feet.

**"Well that was lame. There wasn't even any blood. Dammit Naruto, let me out for something good next time!" **The Kyuubi smashed a chakra-coated foot into the puddle of goo on the ground one last time before closing his eyes and letting Naruto resurface.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked around quickly at the surroundings. Kyuubi had apparently moved them a little further into the forest to be out of sight of Lisanna, Natsu, and Happy. Sending mental thanks to the Kyuubi, he swiftly moved back towards the house.

"Aaargh! Bastard zombie! Just falling back on the ground like that! Get back up and fight me like a real corpse!"

Naruto felt like slapping his forehead upon hearing Natsu's loud voice. Moving out from behind some trees, he saw the pink haired teen kicking one of the fallen zombie puppets in the side, while growling out mild obscenities. Happy appeared to be looking on with amusement as Lisanna had transformed into a rather large purple rabbit and was stomping on top of the now motionless corpses.

"Uh, guys, I took care of that ooze thing. Those zombies aren't going to move anymore."

"Aaahh, that's lame. I was just getting ready to use my Fire Dragon Roar too."

"You can still use it."

Lisanna had since transformed back to her human form, and she joined Happy and Natsu at looking at Naruto curiously. "Why should he use it now? There's no point, is there?"

Naruto gestured around himself. "These corpses have been desecrated by that ooze. Burn them into ash so that they can finally get the peace they deserve. This way no one will ever defile them again."

A look of comprehension crossed over all three of his teammate's faces, and they all nodded at the same time.

"Once that's done, well go report to the mayor what happened here. Now let's move out of Natsu's way so we don't get burnt to a crisp."

* * *

"The mayor was a lot more understanding than I thought he'd be."

Naruto nodded, more to himself than to any of the others at Lisanna's comment. The blond had shown his three companions and the mayor the symbol he had copied, unfortunately none of them recognized it, but they all agreed that hey should show it to Makarov.

He was walking behind the other three, Lisanna and Natsu were talking as Happy rested on Natsu's shoulder. The blond tuned back in to hear what they were talking about, he had been listening to them converse off and on as they traveled back to Magnolia town. At the moment, he was going over the relatively short fight in his mind.

**You are as intrigued as I am.**

_Sort of. Was that impostor really part of the hermit?_

**As far as I could tell before I cooked it, it was an artificial life form. Someone created it and likely placed it inside the hermit, or that's what it seems like from what the hermit's corpse showed.**

_So then it was as the impostor said, the hermit lost control?_

**Something like that. I would assume that something forced the hermit to lose concentration, and as a result that impostor found enough room to take over and free itself, killing the hermit in the process.**

_That's... nasty._

**It's the same situation with us, the only difference is that we've willingly accepted each other and merged. As a result I think I've calmed down considerably from what I remember myself being like, but at the same time you're quicker to anger and have less patience. The benefit is that we are still both completely separate consciousnesses.**

_I'll admit, it does have it's advantages. Willingly accepted, though?_

**Okay, okay... forced to willingly accept. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate your mother?**

_Is it as much as you hate my father, my friends, my home, and me?_

**Yes.**

_Then yes, you have._

**I see. Well, at least you're aware.**

Finishing his conversation with the Kyuubi, Naruto looked up in time to see Lisanna sending Natsu occasional glances as they walked. Natsu was apparently oblivious, however, as he had his hands behind his head and was looking up at the sky. Naruto smiled a little, amused at how much Natsu reminded him of what he used to be like before the war.

He also thought of what he knew about the two teenagers in front of him. They obviously spent a lot of time together, and any time Lisanna was around him she had something to say about Natsu. He'd seen Natsu blush around her... heck, that was the only time he ever saw Natsu blush... and figured something was going on between them. Whatever it was, if it was in fact anything, they were very good about keeping it quiet. The only thing Naruto knew was a fact was that the two of them were acting as foster parents for Happy.

Getting an idea, a grin slowly spread across his face. Reaching into one of the pouches on his jounin vest, Naruto pulled out the two party passes he got a week ago.

"Natsu."

The pink haired teen almost stumbled for a moment before quickly turning to look at Naruto, his eyebrow raised, silently asking a question.

"Do you have any plans for next weekend?"

Natsu blinked for a moment, before shaking his head, then grinning. "No, why? You want to do another mission? Or how about you teach me how to do that jump you did earlier?"

Chuckling, Naruto shook his head. "I might be able to teach you how to jump like that, but it will have to be another time. But I do have a mission for you."

The teen immediately perked up. Naruto noticed Lisanna listening in as well. Giving the other boy a large grin, he handed over the party passes. Natsu just looked confused at first, then slowly grabbed them to examine them.

"Master Ringo's Party Pass? Wait, what? Really? Do you know how hard these are to get?"

"You really have some? Wow!" Lisanna ran over to Natsu and looked over his shoulder with stars in her eyes.

"Your mission is to take your girlfriend to the party. No excuses."

Natsu was smiling as he looked at the passes, but Lisanna started to look a little sad. "Why are you giving these to us? Why aren't you going?"

"Huh? Why should I go? It's not like I have anyone to go with either."

"Yes you do."

That caused Naruto to stop short and blink as he looked at the two, who also stopped walking to turn and look at him.

"Huh? Who?"

Lisanna and Natsu looked at each other for barely a moment before they both turned back to him and answered at the exact same time.

"Erza."

Yet again, Naruto found himself coming up short. Erza? They'd only really talked one time!

"I don't really know Erza. We've talked once. We might have just become friends, but I don't think it's quite enough to go to a party with her. Alone."

"Well, all I know is that for a few days before she went on her mission, all she talked about was _you._ Telling me not to challenge you because I wouldn't stand a chance, how you were cunning and used your magic in brilliant ways, and how you were always fair. The list kept going on too."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto turned to Lisanna for confirmation. She nodded and offered him a small smile. "It's true. I can only imagine what it would have been like if my sister was there too."

Natsu visibly shuddered. "I don't want to think about that."

As Lisanna started to giggle, Naruto started walking again, hoping they would forget about pushing the passes back onto him. He wouldn't mind taking Erza, certainly, but he was purposefully trying to avoid getting too close to people. Unfortunately, he was already getting closer to the three on this job than he wanted to be.

His walking caused the other two to turn back around and resume walking in front of him, as he had hoped. Looking around again, Naruto was about to call out that Happy was missing until he felt a small weight settle on his head. At first he immediately thought it was Gamakichi, but then remembered that the toad was likely about the size of Gamabunta by now. When he felt the tail poking against the back of his neck, he knew it was the cat.

"I like you. You're a nice guy."

Chuckling, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks. I thought you might like to see your parents in good spirits."

"Aye! This is nice. I'll give you one of my favorite fish when we get home."

**This whole scenario is so sweet, I think I'm going to be sick.**

_Whatever. Just don't get any on me._

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** I continue to be humbled by the awesome reviews I'm getting. Apparently crossover fics are in amazing demand? Anyway, compiled review responses below, as always:

_Mirajane x Erza x Naruto -_ It won't happen, but that isn't to say Mirajane won't decide to have a little fun while she can. Just remember what this fics rating is, those of you with dirty minds. (Which admittedly is a large majority of us, right?) If Mirajane does fall in love with Naruto, it may not be one-sided, but it definitely won't be able to be reciprocated.

_Lisanna_ - This has been getting asked every chapter, to please keep her alive. I've heard the pleas, but I can't say what I'm going to do to her without spoiling the story.

_Narutoverse Characters - _Won't appear for a long, long time... if ever. Likely not until the end of the story, or an epilogue. It's not that I have anything against any of those characters, but I don't want to overload the story with characters that everyone has to keep track of. The Fairy Tail characters are more than adequate for a decent length story.

_Apartment -_ Is a rental. He's saving up to make a splash on some goodies you'll get to see later. Growing up an orphan, Naruto has always been financially responsible since a young age, usually pawning his bills off on unsuspecting victims. (Read: Iruka, Sandaime, Kakashi, Yamato)

_Sex - _Nope, no lemons. The closest I'll get in this fic is probably heavy petting (if that) and a 'morning after' scene or five. But that's likely all. The fic is rated 'Teen', after all.


	6. Parties Are Serious Business

Chapter 6

"So, I've been hearing about this mission that you went on."

Naruto looked up from where he was sitting at his usual table, only to see Erza standing nearby with her arms crossed over her armored chest, giving him a small grin. He set the newspaper he was reading on the table as he shrugged at her comment.

"Well, I guess that depends on what you've been hearing..."

"For starters, Natsu can't stop talking about how you defeated this strange kind of ooze-thing as he and Lisanna fought against real zombies."

Chuckling, Naruto gestured to one of the other chairs on the other side of his table. Erza glanced in the direction of the chair he indicated, but instead of sitting there she moved and sat down in the chair that was right next to where he was currently seated. Naruto noticed her action and raised his eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing about her choice of seating, instead choosing to elaborate on their successful mission.

"It wasn't that difficult, honestly. We went to a village, found out what we needed to from the mayor, then went to investigate the house where a hermit was supposed to live. We discovered that he had died previously, and while there encountered his doppelganger of sorts. It was some kind of gelatinous ooze that managed to hold his form... it had his intelligence and his magic power, but it seems like the only emotions it retained were greed and hatred."

Erza propped her chin in her hand while her elbow rested on the table. She looked to be in deep thought for a few seconds before she started talking again.

"I don't recognize any magical ability that can do something like that."

"Yeah, Master Makarov doesn't know either. I had a few things to talk to him about after I got back, and one of them seemed to have him a little... perturbed."

The redhead looked at him curiously. "Are you allowed to tell me?"

"There isn't much to tell. I only explained one of my abilities to him so he'd know for future reference, and the other thing was this."

Naruto pulled a folded up piece of paper out of one of the pockets on his vest. Opening it back up, he turned it around and held it up, showing the crude drawing to Erza. The redhead grabbed the paper with a frown, examining it carefully.

"This looks familiar, but I can't place it. Where did you get it?

"It was on the body of the dead hermit... the one who had been killed by the ooze. I just copied the design onto that paper to see if it had any special meaning. As it turns out, I was right."

Erza arched an eyebrow, handing the paper back to him. "What did you discover?"

Naruto accepted the paper, folding it back up and returning it to his pocket. "The old man checked a book of known guild insignia that he had in his office. According to him, it was a very close match with one of the insignia in the book. A guild called 'Grimoire Heart'. More specifically, a Dark Guild."

"What? Really?" Erza was clearly shocked at this revelation.

"Yeah, why? Do you know something?"

Erza slowly shook her head. "Probably not more than anyone else, no. They're one of the largest Dark Guilds out there, and have been around for quite a while, but that's all I know. No one has heard anything from them for several years, or at least it seems like it's been that long. They've been keeping a low profile, which is strange for a Dark Guild."

"What is a Dark Guild anyway? Makarov said the same thing, but I didn't ask him about it because we had other things to talk about."

Leaning back in her seat, Erza once again crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs. "A Dark Guild is one that will take any assignment, no matter what it is. So they will do things like assassination, robbery, sieges, take hostages for ransom, and the like. Once your guild accepts a mission like that, it's black listed by the Mage Council and the guild is supposed to disband. However most of them don't, and then they become Dark Guilds - guilds that aren't recognized by the Mage Council. Since they don't have to follow any of the rules that the registered guilds do, they're obviously a lot more dangerous."

**Bah, why did that dragon have to send us here? A Dark Guild sounds much more interesting than what we're currently doing.**

_I didn't hear you complaining about what we were doing before now._

**That was **_**before**_**. Now that I know there are missions that cause death and destruction, I want to do those instead!**

_Well, I don't. I'm actually enjoying the first peaceful moments I've had in years. Besides, with how things usually work out, I'm sure we'll end up fighting against one of these 'Dark Guilds' before long. Erza hasn't said it yet, but I'm fairly certain regular guilds like ours get missions to take out Dark Guilds. Otherwise no one would bother to register with the legitimate guilds, you know?_

**Yeah yeah, I guess that makes sense. Bah, I wish we could do those S-Ranked missions now, but what was it Makarov said? We had to be a member of Fairy Tail for at least a month before even being considered? Booooring!**

_You can't have things your way all the time, Kyuubi._

**No kidding. I've been reminded of that every day since before you were even born.**

"Erza, do we ever get missions to go after and take out Dark Guilds?"

The redhead's eyes went wide for a moment before she nodded. "Yes, though they are always S-Ranked missions. I've not been on one yet, but I hear that they are hard, because you have to bring in as many members as you can so they can be judged fairly. Several guilds usually have to work together as well."

"Hm, sounds exciting. Too bad about the S-Ranked bit, though."

Erza nodded imperceptibly. "I was talking to Master this morning, and he mentioned that you were interested in S-Ranked missions. Do you really want to do them that badly?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not that badly, no. But most of the regular missions are too easy for me and I can usually finish more than one in a day if they aren't too far from Magnolia Town."

"That's true. You've finished more missions since you've been here than most others have done in the last two months. Unfortunately, no matter how many missions you do, there are a couple other things that need to be done before you're allowed to do S-Ranked missions."

"Yeah... what are those, exactly? I know about having to be a member of a guild for at least a month. But that's it."

Erza began to tick points off on her fingers. "Being a member of a guild for a month is the first part, that's mainly so that the Guild Master can get to know your skill set to see if you're ready to take on S-Ranked missions or not. The second thing you need to do is go with a team to perform an S-Ranked mission, and they grade your performance. Your grade determines if you need to improve and do more team missions before you can initiate an S-Ranked mission on your own, should you want to. Finally, you need to register with the Magic Council in Era so they can keep track of the S-Ranked missions you succeed with... or fail at."

"Why do they need to know? Isn't that kept in the guild anyway?"

Erza shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. Supposedly it's because they are the ones who monitor all the S-Ranked missions because of how much they pay, but the rumor is that those who complete a lot of S-Ranked missions are the ones who get strong consideration whenever new members are drafted into the Ten Wizard Saints."

**Hmmm, that sounds like it's your best way to infiltrate the Magic Council and take over. Let's do it.**

_What? Take over? Why would I want to do that?_

**Because this dimension is full of weaklings. Haven't you ever wanted to rule?**

_Not really. I only have people I want to protect. Ruling seems like it's too much work. I really wasn't looking forward to tackling those stacks of papers when I... would have become Hokage. Even with Shadow Clones, I'll go into a coma every time with the amount of information they'll be sending me._

**All the more reason to stay here and become the supreme ruler! Let everyone else do the grunt work.**

_Okay, let's say I follow this little 'take over' plan of yours. When I have control, what's next? Won't I be bored?_

**No! That's when you take all of your minions from this dimension and go invade another one!**

_Minions? You're impossible, you know that?_

**Admit it, Naruto, you find the idea entertaining.**

_If I was insane and power hungry, perhaps. Luckily for me, I'm not. You take care of those things for me._

"Ten Wizard Saints, huh? What's the point in becoming one of those?"

"Well, they are the ruling Wizards in this country. Each country has their own form of the Ten Wizard Saints, the mages who are responsible for making sure that the guilds follow the rules. Above them is the High Wizard Council, of which the most powerful mage in each country is a member. The High Wizard Council determines who can become a Ten Wizard Saint in our country, Fiore. Master Makarov is one of the Saints, you know."

Naruto blinked several times as he stared at Erza. "I had no idea. So the old man has some clout. Well, I can see why."

The redhead simply smiled, then began looking around the room. "I've also been hearing some interesting things. Something about natural energy?"

Erza wasn't looking at him, but he could easily hear the curiosity in her voice. Naruto couldn't hold the sigh that escaped his lips, causing Erza to turn back to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew I shouldn't have done that. It's been a few days, and she's still nagging me about it. I promised that I'd tell her eventually, but eventually does not mean the next day, or the day after that. Perhaps I should have been clearer."

Now the redhead was frowning, and Naruto had the feeling he was digging his own grave. "Do you not trust us? I thought Fairy Tail was your family. We certainly consider you to be one of us."

Now _that_ was a loaded statement if he had ever heard of one. His eyes went wide for a second before he looked away from where Erza was boring a hole in his head with her eyes. He was purposefully trying to maintain a distance from everyone, so that no one would get hurt when he had to leave. It was especially hard maintaining a distance from everyone when they were all so nice, it wasn't his nature to be ignorant of others and cold like Sasuke was when they were in the Academy. At the rate things were going, he'd likely have to give up on his decision not to get close to anyone. This was going to suck.

"It's not that I don't trust anyone, because I do. The way I was trained when I was younger was to not give away all of my skills if I didn't have to, not even my friends. The only ones who knew all of my skills were my team, because I did all my jobs with them."

Erza looked interested at that. "Your team, huh?"

Naruto leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he remembered. "Yeah, though I haven't done anything with them for over a year now. I had things to do on my own, and they felt that they would just get in the way. Now... I'm here."

"So if we were to form a team, you'd tell me what your skills are?"

Opening his eyes once again, he was going to give a negative answer to Erza, but stopped once he looked at the serious expression on her face. Instead of saying no, he decided to ask a question instead. "Why does what I can do seem to matter so much to you?"

Erza swiftly looked away, but he could still see as she shrugged. "It goes together with me being curious about how well you'd perform during S-Ranked missions. It's just some random things I'm thinking about, that's all."

"I see."

They sat there in companionable silence for a little while; Naruto went back to reading the article in the newspaper. He glanced at Erza occasionally, out of the corner of his eyes. She hadn't moved from where she was sitting, but hadn't said anything further to him and seemed to be fidgeting slightly in her seat.

"I also heard about what you did... for Natsu and Lisanna. That was very sweet of you."

Looking up from the paper again, Naruto glanced at Erza, only to see that she was still looking elsewhere. Following her gaze, she seemed to be looking in the direction where Natsu and Lisanna were talking in a group along with Gray, Mirajane, and Cana. They were all talking about something that was causing the girls to laugh, though Natsu was looking embarrassed and Gray was sending the Dragon Slayer a look that was a mix between boredom and loathing.

"It was the right thing to do. I had no one to go with, and those two reminded me of myself and an old teammate of mine a couple years ago. They were all over the tickets when I handed them over, so I know I did the right thing."

"It was nice of you to do, yes. But they won't have a chaperone, and that worries me."

Naruto set the paper down again, giving Erza an incredulous look. "Chaperone? Why would they need a chaperone?"

Erza turned to look at Naruto once again, a frown marring her features. "I'm not worried about Lisanna at all. Natsu, on the other hand..."

"I don't think Natsu is the type of person that would do anything to her..."

Shaking her head, the redhead glanced back towards the table where the others were sitting. "Natsu and Lisanna are fine when alone, that's not what I'm talking about. Natsu has a tendency to... destroy things. I'm thinking about what he might do if someone does something that he thinks is 'wrong' to Lisanna. Natsu's sense of wrong is very... broad... when it comes to her."

_"Ohhhhhh."_

Giving a small chuckle as she nodded, Erza turned towards Naruto once again. Only this time she had a slightly... creepy looking smile on her face. "That's why you're coming with me to help me chaperone. Natsu will behave when I'm around, certainly. But if there is something that needs to be contained, I think your skills would be better."

Naruto winced, then closed his eyes and sighed as the Kyuubi started laughing somewhere in the back of his mind. So much for trying to not get too close to people. Erza was definitely a pretty girl, and he could only get to know her better by going to this little party with her, but fleeting thoughts about 'could-have-beens' back home were the largest thing to give him any pause. Still, just things he'd heard about Erza's admiration for him from Natsu and Lisanna alone made him feel bad just by contemplating turning her down. He had no qualms about going with her if it was just to chaperone, but there were other thoughts...

"If... if you really don't want to go, I should be able to convince someone else... but I was hoping-"

Naruto quickly opened his eyes and started waving his hands in the air, "No! No, I'll go, I was just thinking about how we're going to chaperone from outside, that's all. Sorry."

Erza was looking a little hesitant when he opened his eyes, but the moment Naruto said he'd go, her demeanor changed instantly. With a confident smile, she held up one of her hands between them, and after a brief glow there were two tickets that appeared in her hand. Naruto simply found himself staring at them before raising an eyebrow.

"Master Ringo, and even Lisanna and Natsu have made it sound like those tickets are really rare. So... how?"

Erza nodded briefly, then exquipped again and made the tickets disappear. "You probably didn't know, but there are usually two missions given to the guild from Master Ringo. The first is the one you took, to clean the mansion. The second one is to gather the food and materials he needs for the party. While I wasn't nearly as fast as you, I was still apparently a lot faster than everyone before, so he gave me two tickets as thanks."

"I only took that mission because I didn't know any better and it was simple for me to do. Since you obviously know about them, why did you bother? I can't imagine it paid very much."

"That's true, it doesn't. I originally took it as punishment for not helping you during your mission."

Naruto sighed. "I already forgave you for that. It wasn't a big deal, really."

The redhead simply waved it off, but if she was going to elaborate any further she chose not to. "Anyway, since we'll be going to this party together, you had better find something nice to wear. You'd better not embarrass me either, I have a reputation to uphold."

The blond couldn't help but do a double-take as the slightly hesitant Erza he'd come to know well decided to take a back seat to the more dominant one he'd seen sparring with Mirajane and straightening out Natsu and Gray. She stood up slowly, and was standing in such a way that it left her eyes shadowed so that Naruto could barely see them. All he could clearly see was a rather sinister looking smile.

"Uh... of course."

The sinister smile was instantly replaced by a more pleasant one, and for some strange reason he could immediately see the rest of her happy-looking face.

"Good!"

That said, the redhead promptly turned and started walking away from the table, and Naruto watched her back until she mingled with the rest of the crowded guild hall.

_Was... was that some kind of magic trick?_

_**I don't know, but you need to let me out so I can ask her how she did that. I can imagine the looks of terror now...**_

_Maybe I will, it might come in handy._

**Bah, I knew you wouldn't... wait... what? Really?**

_Of course not. I would never let you out for something as trivial as that._

**Is... is this what having your hopes crushed feels like?**

_Probably_.

**I hate you.**

_I know._

_

* * *

_

"I still can't believe you dragged me out here."

"Well, it's either this or sitting in the guild hall listening to Cana talk about the last date she went on. If you'd rather, I can always-"

"No, this is fine. Just hurry up and find what it is you need, these stores always make me feel uncomfortable."

Naruto turned to look at his companion, shock all over his features. "What? How can a _clothing store_ make you feel uncomfortable?"

His companion, Gray, simply raised his eyebrow and gave Naruto a look.

"Oh... right. Just... if you feel the urge to remove your clothing, make sure you're in a dressing room first."

"Whatever. It won't be a problem."

Naruto brought Gray along in hopes that the younger teen would be able to help him find something decent to wear for this upcoming party. At first he had asked about going to a specialty clothing store, but apparently in this dimension they had no such things. According to Gray, clothing stores only carried various styles of clothing depending on the climate where they were located, and even then the stores carried a little bit of everything. Casual clothing, underwear, dress clothes... all of those could be found in the same store.

While it made finding a store to shop in relatively easy, most of the stores only carried a meager selection of the type of dress clothing he was looking for. If he had to apply a label to the clothes, they were a lot more refined and complicated than anything he had ever worn in Konoha, not to mention how most of them looked either stiff, tight, or just plain uncomfortable. The shirts were full of buttons and had tight collars that wrapped around your neck, and then to add insult to injury, you had to wear another piece of smooth cloth called a 'necktie'. What was the point? The pants had all these zippers and buttons and hooks too, it made no sense when a simple elastic or even string waistband that he could tie off would work fine as well.

When they had finally arrived at a shop that had a decent selection of the more difficult clothing that he was already beginning to despise, one of the sales clerks decided to fawn all over him, saying that he'd look _simply mahhhvelous_ in what he called a 'three piece suit'. So for the next hour Naruto had been dragged to every corner of the store, being shown what felt like every single product that they had on their shelves and hanging from displays.

"Do you have any of this buttoned shirt in an orange?"

Both the sales clerk and Gray had proceeded to look at him like he was insane, then the clerk simply sniffed then huffed as he walked off towards the back of the store. Gray had decided to wander off as well, likely not interested in seeing what kind of fashion mess Naruto would make. One of the reasons Naruto had dragged Gray along was because he had felt that the dark haired teen had the best fashion sense out of the group of people that he would hang around, except perhaps Macao, but right now the man was out on assignment. Be it fortunate or unfortunate, the raven-haired teen tended to remind Naruto a lot of Shikamaru due to his laziness. The kid didn't really want to do anything other than lounge around, and pick the occasional fight with Natsu. He hadn't been able to figure out what Gray was interested in, if anything at all.

"Sir, I'm afraid we don't have any of those shirts in... _orange_... but we do have this dark blue tie with pale orange stripes that would go well with the ensemble we've been working on."

Naruto sighed inwardly, apparently people in this world had something against his favorite color. Begrudgingly he had to admit that the tie did go nicely with the gray suit and the light blue shirt that was currently set out for him, so he ended up agreeing with the sales clerk. The clerk immediately started dancing around him happily again, then promptly grabbed all the clothes and shoved them into his arms, telling him to go try them on in one of the dressing rooms. Figuring that this was how these people worked, Naruto complied.

It took him longer than he hoped to figure out all the intricacies of wearing all this formal stuff, and he had no idea how to wear the tie, so he had to leave the dressing room to get help from Gray about what to do. The teen had given him another one of his exasperated looks, then went ahead and put it together around his own neck. Loosening it and pulling it over his head, he offered it to Naruto with the instructions to pull on 'the small part behind the big part' to make it tighter around his neck. Naruto nodded but frowned, he really didn't understand the point of all this.

Luckily it didn't take much longer for him to finish getting changed, and after looking at himself in the mirror he had to admit it didn't look that bad at all. Apparently many others felt the same way, including his bored companion.

"Naruto... I'm a guy, but even I have to admit you look damn good wearing that."

Scratching at his cheek, Naruto laughed lightly. "Uhm, thanks Gray. But I might feel more comfortable hearing you say that if you were _actually wearing clothes!_"

"W-What?" Gray looked down, then immediately turned crimson in the face. "When the hell did this happen? Where are my clothes?"

"I have no idea! Where did you take them off?"

"I don't remember taking them off!"

As the red-faced boy ran off to locate the clothing that had disappeared from his body, Naruto decided to just go ahead and buy the suit that he was wearing. He much preferred the loose clothing and yukata that they wore in Konoha, but it seemed that if he wore anything like that around here, he'd be getting stared at, and that was something he certainly didn't want again or need right now. Confirming his purchase with the sales clerk, he returned to the dressing room and changed back into his casual clothes. On his way back out, a flash of red caught his eye and he turned to look.

One of the other people who worked at the store was moving one of the display dolls that still had some clothing on it. The interesting thing about the clothes the doll was wearing was that it had clothing that was eerily reminiscent to what the ANBU of Konoha would wear. There were a few differences, for example the parts that used to be silver in color were now a deep red, and the arm-length gloves didn't have the bands that kept the gloves from falling down the arm with a lot of active movement. The clothes even included sandals, though they only wrapped around the ankles and didn't seem to go up to mid-calf. It didn't seem like anything that couldn't be adjusted, though.

"Ah... excuse me..."

The worker looked around briefly, until he noticed Naruto looking at him.

"Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I was wondering... the clothes on that doll there, are they for sale?"

"On the mannequin? Yeah, if you want them. It seems that this was a design that didn't sell at all, so my boss told me to change the clothes on display. If you want these, you can buy them."

"Sure! They actually remind me of a clothing style that was worn where I come from, so I'd put them to good use."

The worker gave him a strange look for a moment before shrugging and removing the clothes from the doll. When he was done, he asked Naruto to wait for a moment because there was something else that went with the outfit. Upon his return, he handed a strange looking item to the blond, until he recognized what it was for.

"So... that mask came with this outfit for some reason, I guess. It wouldn't fit on the mannequin's head, so we just left it off. It's a strange looking thing, but since it came with that outfit, you get it too. Don't know what you're gonna do with it though..."

The worker's voice trailed off as he turned and walked away, and Naruto found himself examining the mask carefully. It was well crafted, and from the looks of it, would cover his face perfectly. The eye openings were oddly shaped compared to nearly all masks he'd seen before, they were actually small rectangles instead of the typical circles. The coloring on the mask matched perfectly with the colors of the clothing, it was completely black with two red lines that stretched down from the eye openings to the bottom of the mask.

**I like it. It looks imposing.**

_You know... I like it too._

**This must be a first. Both of us liking something.**

_Yeah, but definitely for different reasons._

"What's that?"

Naruto turned to see Gray, fully dressed once again, looking at the other set of clothes and mask in Naruto's arms.

"This? It needs a couple things, but it's going to be my new uniform."

Gray simply blinked at him, and instead of choosing to ask what Naruto meant, he simply shrugged his shoulders and pointed towards the payment counter. "That's nice. Can we go now? I'm really bored, and it's hot in here too."

"Everywhere is hot for you. Besides, when are you not bored?"

The other teen look like he wanted to argue for a moment, but then simply sighed and nodded a little. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

As they moved over to the counter, Naruto began to notice several whispers that were gradually growing in volume. Looking around, he noticed several people, particularly females, who were watching him and Gray as they moved through the store. Several of them appeared as if they were trying to be indiscreet, hiding behind shelves and racks of clothing, but his senses were above the average person's and it wasn't hard for him to figure out that they were being watched.

"Hey, Gray?"

"Huh?"

"Just how many people saw you run around the store in your underwear?"

Gray coughed for a second, giving Naruto a crazy look, before blushing and looking away. "I have no idea. I was more concerned with actually tracing my steps and finding my clothes."

"Well, at least you found them."

"Uh... yeah, about that..." Gray trailed off and started looking around them, probably now noticing the others that were looking at them as Naruto paid for his purchase.

"About it... what? Don't leave me hanging."

"One of the female employees who was helping some other girls found my clothes on the floor but didn't recognize them as anything this store sold. So when I went over to get my clothes from her... there was a little scene."

As the clerk behind the counter returned Naruto's purchase to him, the blond sighed as he glanced at his companion, then started walking towards the exit.

"A scene? I didn't hear any yelling."

"I got lucky this time. Most of the time they start to scream, and-"

As they left the store, a shout caught the attention of both of the boys, followed by a high-pitched female yelling.

"That's him, officer! He's the one who was running around in the store without any clothes on! Right in front of both of my daughters!"

Naruto had to fight hard to suppress the grin that was forcing it's way onto his face. Why Gray would randomly strip down, he'd likely never understand, but the boy seemed to find the worst spots to do it.

"I guess that means you'd better start running, right Gray?"

As the police officer started running towards them, Naruto turned to look at the other teen, only to find that he was no longer there. "Gray?"

Turning around completely, he caught a glimpse of the teen running away down the street, then make a quick turn down another street behind a row of buildings. Shortly after that, Naruto watched as the officer ran past him down the street, doing his best to chase after the teenager who had a rather large head start.

**If I was a betting demon, I'd say this isn't the first time that this has happened.**

_That's a sucker bet._

**I know. It's a shame your beloved grandmother Tsunade isn't here to be taken advantage of.**

_Even she wouldn't take a bet like that._

**Never say never, brat. She isn't The Legendary Sucker for no reason.**_  
_

_

* * *

_

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

Mage Council Classification: C-Rank Mage  
Notes: According to Makarov, Naruto claims to be a 'shinobi', but not as we know them. Watching for further developments.

Member Since: October 21st, 782 (3 weeks, 2 days)  
Completed Solo Missions: 27  
Completed Team Missions: 1  
Reward to Date: 301,554 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** As for the review responses that I typically give, if you don't see a response or explanation then that means it will likely be something appearing in the future or could cripple the plot if I say too much, so I've chosen to say nothing. The ones I respond to mean that I can give away info without messing up the plot, I'm tossing out a teaser, or I'm going to use as an opportunity to flesh out something that has no real impact on the story itself, but is nice to give some background information in the story that doesn't really have a place in the actual story itself.

_Kushina and Kyuubi_ - It actually wasn't planned before the latest chapters of Naruto, but it fit. I'll likely not go much further down that path at all, unless it proves convenient based on information given in the canon Naruto manga.

_Ringo's Party_ - I bet many were wondering who Naruto would ask, or if he would go with Erza. Well... surprise? Mirajane hasn't found out yet... just wait until Gray get's back to the guild.

_Hiraishin_ - Yes, Naruto knows it.

_A and S-Ranked Missions_ - Naruto will get there, eventually. Technically, the zombie mission would have qualified as an A-Rank - in Earthland. In the Elemental Countries, it probably would have been C-Rank.

_Lisanna_ - I really want to say, but I don't want to spoil. Her 'moment' will appear in about... 2 or 3 chapters, likely. Lucy will probably appear around chapter 9 or 10, if you want a timeline perspective. At least, that's the _plan_.

_Naruto's Plan_ - He'll never push back his plans to get home willingly, but he's also not the type to turn a blind eye when people are asking for his help. So he'll be getting plenty sidetracked...

_Naruto and Kyuubi_ - Naruto doesn't 'like' Kyuubi, nor does 'Kyuubi' like him, but they understand that they are necessary for each other. This Naruto is likely different from how canon Naruto will end up, because after being in a war for a year this Naruto doesn't mind getting a little bloody in the trenches. It doesn't mean that he -enjoys- killing, not like Kyuubi does, but if it's seen as absolutely necessary, then he has no problem letting Kyuubi take care of it. Naruto does have complete control over Kyuubi, there is no doubt about that, and can force his own consciousness to the front if he needs to, but the Kyuubi was also a victim as much as he was. Naruto understands this, and lets the Kyuubi have some moments of 'freedom'. If Kyuubi 'acts up', or however you want to phrase it, Naruto has no qualms about throwing him back behind the seal. Besides, letting Kyuubi be 'free' has its perks, as you will eventually learn...

_Kyuubi's Name_ - Kyuubi will go by that... just 'Kyuubi', for this fic. The little bit of joking last chapter was its attempt at a bit of wry humor. As for the whole abyss thing, that will come into play later.

_Summons_ - Nope, and it will be explained later.

_House_ - Can't say 'yes', but can't say 'no'. But he will get something more than his little apartment.

_Elfman's incident_ - Same as Lisanna, a couple more chapters.


	7. Territory Markers Are Overrated

Chapter 7

"Naruto?"

Looking up from where he was sitting on a bench outside the women's dormitory, the blond smiled as he watched Natsu approach.

"Hey there. You're looking very... um, sophisticated?"

It was certainly true that Natsu could dress well if he tried. His outfit was definitely more simple than what Naruto was wearing, as he didn't have a vest or a jacket, but the dress shirt and slacks still looked good on him.

"Thanks, I think. What are you doing here, and why are you dressed up even nicer than I am?"

Chuckling, Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "Well, it seems that even though I gave away my tickets to you, I was still asked to go to the party anyway. So here I am, waiting for my date."

If Natsu was at all surprised, he didn't show it. Instead, he was looking rather excited. "Really? Who asked you to go?"

"The person you and Lisanna said I should go with. Erza."

Naruto watched as the Dragon Slayer's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Erza? Really? Oh... I guess that's what she and Mirajane were arguing about the other day. I wasn't really paying attention, but I thought I heard your name a few times."

That was news to Naruto. He had no idea that they had gotten into another little spat, over him of all things. It had been several days since he had been asked to go to the party, so he was surprised that he hadn't heard anyone gossiping about their argument, or even that no one had told him about it. Gossip among members of Fairy Tail never seemed to cease.

"Natsu! Naruto!"

Both boys turned towards the dorm to see Lisanna walking towards them swiftly. While he hadn't the slightest bit of romantic interest in her, Naruto couldn't deny that she looked attractive... no, radiant - in her pale blue gown. He knew that he was no master at fashion sense, but there was just something that seemed... perfect... about her choice of clothes.

"Hey, Lisanna!" Natsu started waving one of his arms rapidly back and forth as he responded to her greeting. Meanwhile Naruto simply decided to offer a small wave and waited for her to get closer, smiling as he listened to Natsu shout compliments at his date as she approached.

The blond watched as Lisanna proceeded to thank Natsu for his compliments, then quickly scold him for yelling loud enough to wake up the entire town. Natsu immediately pouted and Lisanna relented in her admonishments, then told him that he looked nice, causing Naruto to chuckle.

It wasn't very loud, but it was enough to make Lisanna turn towards him in surprise, almost as if she had forgotten he was there.

"Naruto! You look... wow."

Smiling, Naruto nodded at the younger girl, "As do you. That dress looks very good on you."

Lisanna blushed cutely and bowed her head forward, and the blush only deepened when Natsu laughed and claimed that the dress not only looked good, but it was amazing.

After turning to her date and telling him to hush again, the white haired girl looked at Naruto once more.

"Erza was almost finished getting ready when I last saw her. She said that she would be out here soon. Did you want us to wait for her with you?"

Naruto shook his head, waving with his hand for them to leave. "Nah, it's okay. You two go on and have some fun. But keep it within reason, right Natsu?"

"Huh?" Natsu simply looked confused at Naruto's comment.

"I mean, I don't want to get to the mansion only to find out that it's been knocked down due to an explosion, understand?"

"Why would there be an explosion?"

Both Naruto and Lisanna simply stared at Natsu until he blushed and looked away. "Sheesh, fine... I'll be careful."

"Good!" Lisanna chirped affirmatively, then promptly grabbed Natsu's arm and started dragging him away towards the party. Looking over her shoulder, she gave Naruto a small wave with her free hand. "We'll see you there later, Naruto!"

Waving at their departing figures, Naruto let out a sigh and leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sparkling stars in the sky. This party was not something he'd ever imagine going to when he first arrived in Earthland. Not that there was anything wrong with going to a party, he'd been to several with Jiraiya, but none of them are what he would have called super high class. Jiraiya... thinking about the man brought a small smile to Naruto's face. He hadn't thought about his godfather in a while, and he still missed the man, but he had done more to show Naruto how the world worked outside of Konoha, and he would forever be appreciative of that fact.

**Not to mention the Icha Icha series. Even I had to admit some parts were entertaining.**

_I thought you didn't like human culture._

**I don't. But considering I usually sit here bored until something interesting comes along, I took the opportunity to read with you.**

_So you thought it was... acceptable?_

**It was passable, but ultimately forgettable. If you want to make more money, perhaps you should release those books here.**

_That's... actually not a bad idea._

**See? What would you do without me?**

_I'd probably be a lot happier._

**If I cared about your happiness, I might have been upset about what you are implying.**

"I see that smile... are you thinking about something good?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open - he had apparently closed them while conversing with Kyuubi. Promptly leaning forward and moving up to his feet, he turned in the direction where he heard the voice - and froze. Erza was standing in front of him in a dark green gown that sparkled in a few spots in the faint light radiating from a few nearby buildings and lanterns. She had her hair done up in a style that had some interesting pins holding it in place, while thin strands of hair were left free to frame the sides of her face. She was wearing a type of shoe that Naruto had never seen before, they lifted her heels off the ground slightly, and as a result they added a couple inches to her height since he noticed she was almost as tall as he was now.

He was trying to think of something to say to her, but his mouth just kept opening and closing with no sound coming out. He already thought she was rather attractive even just wearing her typical armor, and the occasional casual outfit he'd seen her in. But the dress she was wearing now was amazing when combined with her figure... Naruto immediately understood that he'd never really had the opportunity to appreciate it before now.

"You should close your mouth, unless you're planning on catching flies with it."

Erza gently tapped Naruto's chin with a knuckle, and his mouth immediately closed, his teeth making a light clicking noise. She had a small smile on her face, and her other hand was resting on her hip.

"I'm sorry... but yeah. Wow, you look great. Really."

The redhead's smile grew bigger. "I see you managed to find your voice. Thank you. I think you look rather dashing as well. It's a good thing I added a staff into my requip inventory, I might need to beat other girls off of you."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "I hope it doesn't come to that." Thinking back on his lessons, he swiftly turned and bent his arm at the elbow, sticking it out for Erza to loop her arm through.

"Shall we head to the party? Every second we stay here is another second Natsu has to find an excuse to blow up the mansion."

He almost missed it, but Erza looked disappointed for a second before putting a grin on her face and nodding at him. She moved up to loop her arm through his, and Naruto was going to ask if something was wrong, but much to his surprise she yanked on his arm and started dragging him forward.

"You're right, we should probably hurry. Let's go!"

* * *

The party itself was of the type that Naruto was fairly familiar with. Several of the more formal events that he went to with Jiraiya had the same atmosphere as this one, people were in small groups chatting animatedly, wandering around the various tables filled with all kinds of different foods. There was a stage that he didn't recall seeing when he had been here cleaning before in one of the larger rooms, and it looked like some kind of small orchestra was setting up to play music.

Master Ringo was greeting all the guests at the door as they came in, and was almost rolling around in happiness when Naruto and Erza entered. He continued rambling on for a good several minutes, thanking both of them profusely for their hard, splendid work, and espousing their deeds to anyone within earshot. Naruto caught several looks of approval from what appeared to be rather high-to-do men at the party, as well as several predatory looks from many of the females which sent shivers down his spine.

Once they were past the entrance, Erza excused herself to go look for Lisanna and Natsu, whom neither of them could spot in the few rooms they had been through together. She suggested that he grab some food and go find them a table to sit at, and that she would join up with him later, hopefully with Natsu and Lisanna in tow.

"Just make sure you have that staff handy when you head back to the table, I'm not liking some of the looks I'm getting from a few of the ladies here."

Erza gave him a wry grin before she wandered off. "I'm sure you can handle it. I'll be back soon."

Sighing to himself, Naruto took a quick look around before moving back to the room with the orchestra. They had finally set up and were playing a light tune for ambiance. It was still early into the evening, and they had arrived at the party early, so there were still plenty of tables that were unoccupied. Walking over towards one of the empty tables near the back of the room, Naruto pulled out one of the chairs and sat down.

**This looks like it's going to be boring, so I'm going to take a nap, or something.**

_Right, if anything interesting happens, I'll wake you._

**I have a hard time imagining that anything even mildly interesting will happen. If I do wake up and find out that you made kissy-face with that redhead without letting me know, I'm going to fry your intestines.**

_I... don't think you have anything to worry about, pervert._

**Hrmph. I guess I'll have to sleep with one eye open, then.**

Naruto held back a sigh, he was starting to do too much of that lately. He and Kyuubi had been talking a lot more since they arrived in this new dimension, at least several times a day. It was obvious to both of them that they didn't really _like_ each other... much. They more or less had a sort of symbiotic relationship; the two of them working together were much, much stronger than being separate. Ever since he had learned to completely control the Kyuubi's chakra, it had agreed to work with him because it didn't want to be locked away again.

Doing things together over the long months of the war, they had found out numerous advantages to working together, and they both very reluctantly agreed to do so should the need arise. Naruto had to admit to himself that he used Kyuubi as a crutch... it had no problem causing death and destruction whenever it was necessary. He was always able to watch in his own subconscious and take back over when he felt that he had to, but the first few times Kyuubi had taken control Naruto found himself retching when confronted with the aftermath.

"E-Excuse me, sir?"

Snapped from his musings, Naruto turned his head to see who was calling him. As far as he could tell, he was still rather alone at the table near the back of the large room, and anyone who wanted to talk to him would have to make a point to go over to where he was sitting. Looking towards where he heard the voice, he saw a young woman, probably a little older than him, with light green shoulder length hair and brown eyes staring at him. She was in a nice, conservative peach-colored dress, and appeared to be holding something that resembled a notepad in her hand... which seemed to be shaking a little.

"Can I help you?"

The girl blinked for a moment, before looking panicked, then promptly bowed in his direction. "Ah, p-please excuse me! I couldn't help but overhear Master Ringo talking about you when you first arrived. Y-You're the Fire Shadow of Fairy Tail, correct?"

Naruto sat up straighter in his chair. "Yeah, that's me."

Relief momentarily passed across the girl's face before she started talking again. "I'm glad I heard correctly. Someone else was talking to me, and I was trying to listen to what Master Ringo was saying while not appearing rude to the other guest. Ah, uhm... my name is Claire Stearn, and I'm a journalist... I work for the Weekly Sorcerer. I hope you've heard of it?"

The blond gave Claire a small smile. "Yeah, actually, it was the first thing I read when I arrived in this town. There was a lot of gossip, but there were a few interesting articles that I looked at as well."

"Really?" The girl perked up instantly, giving him a big smile, and all sense of nervousness that she was giving off previously had vanished. "I've been a subscriber for years, and I love it! I was so happy when they accepted my application! Now I get to go around and conduct interviews!"

Chuckling, Naruto scratched at his chin. "I'm going to guess that you want an interview from me?"

"Can I? Really?" The girl's eyes were wide, and she looked so excited that she might burst. He wasn't exactly looking forward to doing any interviews, he'd read plenty of articles and most of the interviewees had come across as self-centered bigoted idiots. Claire didn't seem to be putting on an act for him, she appeared to be genuinely interested in conducting an interview. So, maybe this time...

"Alright. Have a seat."

"Oh! Thank you so much! You're going to be my first interview... so I'm sorry if I seem a little lost at times."

"It's alright. We all have to start somewhere."

Claire gave him a huge smile, then pulled out the chair next to him and started to get herself organized. She talked to him as she was setting up her notepad, "I'm supposed to say... oh... what was it?" Flipping through her notes, she read down several pages, moving her fingertip along the text as she read.

"Ah! I'm supposed to tell you in advance that some questions might be asked that you don't want to answer, and you're allowed to say that you have no comment, but we are allowed to say that you refused to answer. I hope that won't be a problem for you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I doubt I'll have anything that I refuse to answer, though some of my answers might be vague. I hope you don't mind."

Claire waved her hand dismissively, but was grinning. "It's my job to make you interesting so our readers want more. So if anything, vague answers would work better. Just so you're aware, over three quarters of our subscription base is female."

Chuckling, Naruto found himself shaking his head. "I'm not surprised. I typically borrow a copy from one of my guild mates, Cana. I mostly looked at it for the rumors, sometimes they have good leads and have actually led me to a few jobs."

"I'm glad we could help! So... should I get started?"

"Yeah, go for it."

Nodding, Claire grabbed her notebook and pen, and turning to a blank page, started writing. After a moment of scribbling, she looked up at Naruto, and asked the first question.

"Just to confirm, you are the Fire Shadow of the guild Fairy Tail, correct?"

"Correct."

"I'm guessing that Fire Shadow is a code name, members of guilds commonly use them. Can we know your real name?"

Naruto thought about that for a moment. Right now the only ones who knew his name was a dragon and other members of Fairy Tail. It was actually rather convenient if the public only recognized him as Fire Shadow.

"Unfortunately, my real name only exists in private, with other members of Fairy Tail and those that I'm teamed with. Besides, if my real name isn't known I think it adds to my intrigue, don't you?"

Claire chuckled as she wrote, but shook her head. "I'll admit, I'm curious. But you're right, it will definitely add to the mystery." After writing for a few more seconds, she looked up to ask the next question.

"What made you decide to join Fairy Tail?"

"I actually joined based on a recommendation from a friend of mine who lives far to the east. I come from across the mountains to the east, and I wanted to do some traveling when I got older. I was told by my peers that I was a very capable mage and should be able to get in anywhere, and my friend told me he'd been out to Fiore before. He knew of Fairy Tail as one of the best, if not _the_ best guild in Fiore. So I followed his advice, Fairy Tail accepted me, and here I am."

That was actually a cover story that Makarov had helped him to come up with. They both knew that a question like that would be asked eventually, and it was a lot easier to lie and say he came from the east than to tell the truth and say he was from another dimension. That would likely take a lot more time than he'd ever have time to explain.

"I see. So... what exactly is your mage talent? Fairy Tail is widely known in Fiore as being one of the more exclusive guilds, and not just everyone gets in. They typically take in younger applicants, to help train and mold them into strong mages, but to accept one who has obviously grown up is an unusual step... no offense."

"None taken. When I showed my talent to the Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov, he had no problem letting me join. I guess I have two abilities that I'm known for within the guild."

"Is it possible to have a small demonstration?"

"Why would you want a demonstration?"

Claire let out a yelp as she whirled around in her chair, only to see another copy of Naruto giving her a small grin as he stood back up. It had startled her, she didn't see the Naruto sitting across from her do anything, and the other Naruto had spoken directly into her ear. She didn't even hear footsteps or anything.

"H-How? Is this... your twin, or something?"

Chuckling, both of the Naruto's laughed at that, but the first one chose to respond to her. "No, actually, that's just my clone. One of my abilities is to make solid clones of myself to help me do various tasks."

Claire looked breathless. "I... I see. That's definitely a unique skill."

"That's not the only thing. Should I show her the other thing, boss?"

The journalist looked surprised for a moment at the way the clone addressed the original, but it quickly morphed into curiosity as what it asked caught her attention. Before she could say anything, however, the original Naruto nodded, and the clone promptly blurred from her vision and disappeared.

"W-What? Where did he go?"

"Yo! Claire! Behind you!"

Quickly turning completely around in her seat, the green haired journalist noted with surprise that the Naruto clone had moved several tables away, and was casually leaning back in a chair. Before she could say anything, the clone disappeared from her sight yet again. Moving her head left and right, she tried to see if she could notice any kind of movement, but saw nothing.

"Behind you again, Claire!"

Whirling around in her chair once again, she now saw the clone leaning casually against the wall not too far behind the original Naruto. It gave her a cheeky grin before it disappeared once again, however this time it left a small cloud of smoke behind. She started looking around again to see where he would appear this time, until Naruto chuckled and gently grabbed her arm, stopping her movement.

"It's okay, he dispelled this time."

"I... I see. What was that?"

"Teleportation. I can do it, and so can my clones. We can move short distances almost instantaneously."

Claire was staring at him in awe, and almost as an afterthought she started reaching for her notebook that she had set on the table. Finally laying her hand on it, she shook her head and immediately started writing once again.

"Hey, Naruto! Who's she?"

Craning his neck to look behind him slightly, Naruto managed to catch a glimpse of a mop of pink hair before facing forward once again. "This is Claire. She stopped by and asked if she could interview me. I wasn't doing anything else, so I figured why not?"

"Ohhhh, you're so lucky. I've been with Fairy Tail forever and I haven't been interviewed yet."

"That's because Master doesn't want the younger members doing interviews, Lisanna."

Naruto recognized all three voices immediately, which meant that they found where he was sitting so he wouldn't have to go hunting for anyone. Looking at Claire, he grinned in amusement, as she had stopped writing and was currently looking over his shoulder with stars in her eyes.

"W-Wait, aren't they..."

"Yep, they are." Naruto was having a hard time keeping his grin muted. This woman was obviously having a hard time keeping her composure now that other members of Fairy Tail had appeared. If she was an avid reader of Weekly Sorcerer like she claimed, then he wasn't really surprised. Many of their articles featured third-party interviews based on what members of Fairy Tail had accomplished, so perhaps seeing some of her idols in the flesh was a bit of a thrill.

"T-That's... she's... Erza the Titania! I saw you arrive at the party with her! Does... does that mean?"

"What does _what_ mean?" Erza came up and stood next to Naruto, and he was surprised to feel her hand rest on his shoulder and grip it slightly. The blond turned his head a little to glance at her out of the corner of his eye, but she was simply staring straight ahead at the journalist. Claire, meanwhile, had wide eyes and her mouth was slightly agape. It didn't take long for her to snap from whatever had made her brain stop working, however, and she immediately started writing furiously in her notebook.

It left Naruto with a small sense of foreboding, but with the other members of Fairy Tail here now, especially Erza, he wasn't going to say anything that he might come to regret later.

**Unbelievable, you're already whipped.**

Choosing to ignore the Kyuubi's comment, Naruto blinked as Claire's notebook was loudly closed, then the woman jumped to her feet and promptly bowed to him.

"I thank you very much for the interview, even if it was rather short, but I don't want to disturb your... date any further. It was a pleasure to meet you. I should probably go now-"

Naruto stalled her speech by holding up a hand, and she looked at him curiously. Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel Erza's eyes on him now as well. "Do you have a... what did they call it... oh yeah! Do you have a business card?"

Claire promptly blushed, and he felt Erza grab his shoulder a little tighter than she was before, so he immediately thought that he did something wrong by asking. To his surprise, however, Claire bowed again and apologized.

"I'm sorry. Like I said when we started, I just got this job, so I don't have one yet."

"Ah, I see." Naruto scratched at his cheek absentmindedly as he continued, "I just thought it might be a good idea to have a contact in your industry, you know? I'd rather do future interviews with someone I know so I don't have to repeat things all the time."

"Y-You mean exclusives? You'd let me have your exclusive interviews?"

Naruto couldn't say for sure, but the woman looked like she was going to burst into tears. "Well, it would be easier for both of us to deal with someone we already know, right? Besides, having contacts always helps."

"Of course! As soon as I get one, I can stop by Fairy Tail and drop it off, if that's okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks."

Claire quickly bowed for a third time, espousing her own thanks before clutching her notebook to her chest and quickly scrambling off, nearly stumbling as she did so.

"Was there a point to all that?"

Naruto stopped watching Claire move away, and looked up at Erza. She had released his shoulder, but had crossed her arms over her chest and was staring at him. While her lips weren't frowning, her eyes obviously were. Feeling slightly uncomfortable under her gaze, Naruto shrugged and looked away, towards where Natsu and Lisanna were laughing with each other as they pointed at various other guests.

"We didn't really have magazines or newspapers where I come from, not like you have here. We had newsletters and journals, but the people who wrote those were commonly bought and paid for by various nobles and politicians, so they were only written for a purpose, and it was usually slander against someone else. I just figured it might be a good idea to have someone on the inside, and since I was her first interview, I doubt anyone else has affected her yet."

"Hrm. I guess that makes sense, but I doubt it's necessary."

Her response was unusually curt, so Naruto looked in her direction, watching as she shifted the chair Claire was sitting in and moved it back to the table. "Is something wrong?"

He noticed as she looked at him briefly, then frowned and shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong."

Before Naruto could say anything else, Natsu's voice overwhelmed his thoughts. "What? You want me to dance? I can't dance!"

"Aww, come on! It will be fun, I promise. I'll teach you, so you don't have anything to worry about."

Watching the other two, Naruto grinned as he saw Lisanna forcefully drag Natsu by the hand into the growing throng of people on the dance floor. Thinking briefly, he looked back to Erza, who was still staring at where Natsu and Lisanna were disappearing.

"Do you want to go dance?"

Erza's eyes went wide and she seemed to be happy that he asked for a second, until her features promptly softened and a small frown tugged at the corner of her lips. She didn't start talking until she broke eye contact with him, and looked down towards the table.

"I would like to... but I remembered that I have some things I need to do. Parties are a good time to gather information, so Master asked me to find out anything I could while here. I was going to go mingle and see what people are talking about for a little while. But perhaps after..."

The end of her talk wasn't really spoken as a question, it was more as if she was talking out loud to herself. Naruto tried to hide the small wince that he knew passed over his face, he was lucky that she wasn't looking at him. Even if it wasn't really intended as a rejection, it still was one, and it stung. Perhaps it was some kind of payback for talking with Claire earlier.

Trying not to think to much on it, Naruto nodded, more to himself than to Erza, and started getting up from the table. That was enough to snap Erza out of her thoughts as she looked at him curiously.

"Where are you going?"

"Huh? I was just going to wander around a bit, perhaps go get a breath of fresh air outside. I don't do well in crowds of people when I'm alone, and it's starting to get really crowded in here since they started playing music."

Erza took a second to look around, likely noting that it was in fact getting rather crowded in this room compared to before. Her attention was drawn back to Naruto as he started pushing his chair back up against the table.

"I'm sorry... I don't mean to leave you alone, but I wanted to get my responsibilities out of the way first before I-"

"Hey, hey, it's alright, really." Naruto was waving his hand dismissively. "You still have a lot of responsibilities, I won't hold it against you. Just come find me when you're done. I'll leave a clone hovering around to watch out for Natsu and Lisanna so you can concentrate on doing what you need to."

The redhead gave Naruto a small smile as she began to stand up."Thank you, Naruto. I'm sorry."

"Bah, I already said it's fine. I'll see you in a bit. Good luck."

Naruto turned to walk away, waving a hand over his shoulder. As a result, he missed the sad frown that crossed Erza's face.

* * *

_I wonder if she was upset with me._

**Ugh, not this again! We've been up here for over an hour, and you go back to thinking about her every ten minutes! You really are whipped.**

_I am not, I just feel bad. For some reason she really didn't look happy that I was talking to Claire._

**I've noticed over the centuries that the females of your species tend to get jealous at the smallest hint of someone who looks like they are trying to move in on their territory. Not that the males don't act that way too, but the females are a lot more subtle about it.**

_Territory? What the hell are you talking about? Why would Erza see me as her territory?_

**I've seen her type plenty of times. She won't be obvious about it in front of you, but she'll likely do her best to keep other females away from you. Kushina was the same way about Minato.**

_My mother?_

**The very same. Though she had her nickname for a reason, so most of her competition didn't last very long anyway. It actually got a little boring after a while, she didn't make anyone bleed for a long period of time.**

_That isn't something that I want to be thinking about right now._

The Kyuubi didn't bother to reply, obviously becoming disinterested in their conversation. They had been talking off and on for over the past hour, probably longer, but he had lost track of time after arriving outside on one of the third floor balconies. It was a large balcony, there were small tables and chairs, and a bar that was nearby just inside the door that led to where he currently was. He was alone out here, though there were a few others when he had arrived. However, as the night dragged on and it started to get a little chilly, most of them moved back inside.

At the moment he was sitting back in his chair, his feet propped up on an empty flower pot that was nearby and had been turned upside down. He had been reviewing his memories from the party when the Kyuubi had started talking to him with its colorful commentary. Apparently someone had jostled his clone a little too hard in the crowd downstairs and caused it to dispel. He had immediately made another to take its place, and since he hadn't received any new memories yet, it was likely still intact.

That had been about twenty minutes ago, and he had since finished going through the memories of the previous clone. There wasn't anything of note in them, it had observed Natsu and Lisanna most of the time, and they looked like they were having a blast chatting with other guests and dancing. Natsu had even performed some magic tricks with his flames and managed to pull them off without destroying anything, much to his relief and to the crowds obvious delight.

His clone had also caught sight of Erza several times as it was observing the party, and it had made eye contact with her a few times, though she always looked away immediately after doing so. For some reason it was bugging him, and the only thing he could think of was that she really was upset.

"So this is where you are."

Placing his feet on the ground and turning in his chair, Naruto turned to look at the doorway. Erza was standing there, both hands on her hips, giving him an exasperated look.

"Oh, hey Erza! How's the party?" He tried to give her one of his big smiles, but apparently she wasn't having any of it, as she didn't smile back, but settled for walking over to where he was sitting and staring down at him.

"The party is fine, if a little boring right now. I've been looking for you for a while now, I tried to get close to your clone on more than one occasion but it always seemed to be moving away from where I was after we made eye contact. Then it dispelled, and I started to get worried that you had gotten bored and canceled it, or moved out of range, or some other reason. Eventually I settled down when I noticed another of you entering the dance hall, only to find out that it was another clone and you were still outside!"

Naruto wasn't sure where she was trying to go with this, but he sat up straighter and gave her his full attention. "Is... there something wrong with me being outside?"

Erza looked genuinely conflicted, which was something he was definitely not accustomed to seeing from the redhead. "No... well... yes, but..."

"But?" She had paused, and Naruto was hoping to prod her into continuing.

"I feel bad. I asked you to come to this party with me, and I got stuck doing an assignment while you're sitting out here, alone. My original plan was for us to chaperone Natsu, but you're doing that on your own as a clone..."

"If the assignment was something that the old man asked you to do, then it's fine. Anything he asks is usually important. As for monitoring Natsu, Lisanna has been making sure he's been well behaved, so I don't think I really even need to watch him anymore."

Erza folded her arms over her chest and finally looked away from him. "I'm relieved to hear about Natsu... and as far as doing what Master asked, I was doing it but I couldn't really concentrate very well."

"Why not?"

She looked at him again, and opened her mouth to reply, but her eyes went wide and her jaw snapped shut, then she turned away from him completely.

"Erza?"

"N-Nothing! It's nothing! T-There was just a lot going on, that's all!"

Naruto couldn't help but feel curious about her antics, but decided to let it pass since he was unlikely to get anything out of her even if he pushed. He was going to ask if they should go back inside until she whirled back around, this time her face was completely composed and serious.

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

"I have a question for you."

The Erza that was talking was back to the strong-willed one, the fighter. Any weakness she had shown before when she first arrived would not reappear anytime soon. This one was all business.

"Go ahead."

The redhead looked out over the balcony towards the other candle illuminated buildings of Magnolia Town before talking. "I already mentioned that I talked to Master before the party, and he asked me to gather information. That wasn't the only thing we talked about. You're aware that I'm going to be able to start taking S-Ranked missions soon, correct?"

Naruto's eyebrow arched upward as he watched Erza talk, immediately wondering where this was going. "Yes."

Erza nodded. "Tomorrow I'll be going with Laxus and his new Team Raijinshuu to take on an S-Ranked mission. It will be the one with my peers, where they decide if I'm capable or not."

"I'm sure you'll do great!"

Erza looked at Naruto in surprise, briefly, before adopting a small smile and looking away once again. "I hope so. If I do pass, then I'll be able to initiate S-Ranked missions on my own. When that time comes..."

The blond looked at Erza curiously as she paused mid-speech, taking in a deep breath. Turning towards him once again, she stared at him seriously as she continued, "I'd like it if you would partner with me to do S-Ranked missions."

Blinking for a moment, Naruto couldn't help but be stunned. They had never really worked together on any mission before now, other than ones where she had tagged along to watch him do what felt like menial chores. Even if he was very confident in his own abilities and how they compared to other mages, Erza was obviously going on her beliefs of his capabilities and was putting a lot of faith in him. Not only that, but they'd barely even known each other for a full month.

"W-Well... I'm flattered... but are you sure? We haven't really worked together before."

"I think you'll be fine." She offered him a reserved smile. "From what I've seen you do, even if they were relatively simple missions, you're very capable. I talked briefly with Lisanna, and she agreed with me based on your performance during the mission she did with you and Natsu. If you want, I'll do all the thinking, so all you need to do is flex some muscle."

She was grinning, though Naruto couldn't really tell if she was joking or being serious. "Sure, why not? I only have a few days left before I can start being tested, and was planning to take the tests as soon as I could anyway. So this is what you were distracted about?"

Erza blinked at him before smiling a little, nodding affirmatively. "I'm... interested in getting to know you better... I-I mean your skills better!" She quickly tried to correct herself, though she still blushed as Naruto started laughing.

"So that was your plan to find out about what I can do. I understand. But if we start working together you'll get to know me better anyway, and that works in your favor, correct?"

"Oh hush." Erza lightly swatted at his arm before frowning and looking away once again. He was fairly certain she was just pretending to be embarrassed, as her lip was twitching slightly and she still looked faintly amused.

Looking at her arms, he noticed that she had started rubbing them. It clicked in his mind that it had started getting cold outside a little while ago, and her arms were bare. Judging from the noises he heard from inside, the party was still in full swing, for now.

"Well, oh future partner of mine, if I remember correctly you still owe me at least one dance."

Erza turned to look at him once again, one eyebrow arched. She looked down at his hand, which he had offered to her, then back up to his face and grinned. "Just one?"

"At _least_ one. Perhaps more, depending on how much longer the party goes on for."

The redhead hummed for a second before giving Naruto one of the most brilliant smiles he'd ever seen from her as she placed her hand in his.

"Lead the way, partner."

* * *

**A/N: **As some of you have mentioned in the past, and will likely think about mentioning again after reading this chapter, Erza might seem slightly OOC in places. This is intentional. Remember, it's four years before the start of canon Fairy Tail, and she's still in her mid-teens (16), and not the 20 that she is in canon. She has moments of the Erza you know, but she also still has bouts of insecurity, as most teenagers do. But there is no doubt that she is stronger emotionally than many others her age. Also understand that in the future of this fic, when it gets closer and during canon, Erza's personality might be slightly different from what you know as a result of being with/around Naruto for all those years. He _does_ change people, even unintentionally. I'll try to keep her close to canon, but I strongly doubt she'll be one hundred percent identical to her canon counterpart.

_Erza and Kushina_ - Yes, there are some similarities, but looks is about all there is. Other than this, it has been scientifically proven in real life that men tend to be more attracted to (or focus on) women that resemble their mothers, the same goes for women going after men that resemble their fathers. If you don't believe it, check Google, there are several articles that go into depth on the topic. Admittedly, that research is quite a bit beyond the scope of this work of _fanfiction_, but nevertheless I found it amusing that it's being commented on.

_Zombies_ - Other than disagreement about the rank of the mission, everyone is entitled to their opinion, naturally. Though, hmm... ninja zombies. I didn't think about that. Jinkies, Scoob, I think we have a winner.

_Ikaruga_ - No reason he can't meet people prior to canon, even if it is behind the scenes, you know? Naruto is going to be rather well traveled, after all.

_ANBU Uniform_ - Since he actually has a uniform now, there is no reason why he can't find a tailor to get more copies of it made. Besides that, he still needs to visit a blacksmith for some of the armored parts, and a craftsman for some extra masks.

_Hiraishin_ - (teaser) Expect some invisible adjustments, somewhere, by the time canon Fairy Tail hits.

_Dialogue 'Issues'_ - I understand the criticism, and appreciate it in the spirit in which it is given. Even if it's claimed to be a minor problem I know there are moments where I try to force dialogue where it doesn't _really_ need to happen - or can be done differently. It usually occurs when there is a point or issue that I want to get across but I don't want to dwell on it forever and pull my hair out trying to figure out how to tell the reader. It's likely one of the reasons why it takes me so long to get out chapters of my other stories, I can be **really** picky. I'm trying to be more carefree with this story, hence why the chapters are coming fast because it's simply flowing. As the negative result of that, however, sometimes dialogue and even sentence flow suffers. For most, it's not an issue, but some of the more, uh... how to put this politely... _cultured?/well-read?_ readers will easily pick up on it.


	8. Murphy's Law Happens Here Too

Chapter 8

"Are ya sure that ya want tha vambraces ta be this thin? It won't offer ya much protection, lad."

Naruto examined the flimsy looking piece of metal in his hand. He had been through several blacksmith shops over the past couple of days since he found a good uniform, however nearly all of the shops had long waits for custom work. He had been trying to get the forearm guards like the ANBU in Konoha wore, but was having no luck until today.

He happened to get lucky this morning upon seeing a job request for one of the more well known shops in town, and it was one that he had visited previously. The job itself was extremely simple for someone like him, they just needed a supply run to another town nearby because the employee that they typically used was out sick. Needless to say, it only took him about an hour for what was typically an all day endeavor for the employee.

The smith remembered him coming in earlier asking about custom work, and inquired as to what exactly it was that Naruto needed.

"You might find it odd, but the way it looks is more important to me than to how useful it will be, I'll likely only use it for deflection if I need to. Same with the chest and back armor plates. It might protect me against some light magic and weaponry, but nothing big. It needs to be light and thin enough so that I can still move around easily and dodge. I believe that I'm fast enough to never get hit, but I figure a little protection couldn't hurt, just in case. I actually don't know what type of protective material they used back home, but it was tough enough to protect from decent explosions and small thrown weapons."

"Aye, based on yer descriptions I know what ya have in mind. I have two orders ta work on for one of m' regulars, so I should be able ta get ta yer items later today."

Naruto nodded, pausing for a moment before making another request. "I'm also looking for a kodachi."

"Huh? A kodachi? What's that?"

Blinking, Naruto immediately remembered he was in a different dimension. They likely didn't have the same names for weapons here that they used back home.

"Ah, that's what it's called where I come from. It's a small sword that's only about this long." Naruto held his hands out, showing the approximate length of the sword that ANBU typically had. He didn't know how to use one, and likely wouldn't make use of the sword, but he wanted to keep the uniform as close to authentic as possible.

There was nothing wrong with making a few clones to do some training every day, should he need to, especially if he could find someone to give instruction. He always thought a sword might be interesting to use, but never really found the need before or even during the war to make use of one. Swords were typically for intimidation and specialty jobs, but he had plenty of the former and knew he couldn't really handle the latter without knowing he had backup. He was a brawler, through and through. All things considered, however, using a sword here had its advantages. The more skills he had without relying on his shinobi, sage, and Jinchuuriki techniques, the better. For now, anyway.

"Oh, a short sword? If that's what ya wanted ya shoulda just said so. I gots a bunch'a blades hangin' on tha wall over there. Go take a look an' see if ya can find what yer lookin' fer. If ya want somethin' custom, I can try, but it'll cost a lot more."

"That's fine, I'll go look. Thanks."

"Yeah yeah. Now if ya'll excuse me, I still gotta get workin' on m' other client's stuff."

The blacksmith started humming as he moved back over towards his work area, leaving Naruto to go browse the weapons along the back wall. Looking over the selection, Naruto noticed that there were a lot of empty displays, either the owner hadn't had time to make much, or his shop was very popular. Several of the other shops had at least twice as many as there were here.

**Quality over quantity, perhaps.**

_Kyuubi? I'm surprised to hear you chiming in. Do you know anything about blades?_

**Not really. I've never needed to use them, obviously. Neither of my previous hosts did either. The only thing that comes to mind is the Hachibi Jinchuuriki... he used blades, if you remember.**

_Yeah, eight of them. I always thought that was awesome, but he looked a bit funky when he used them all._

**I guess. Why do you need a blade anyway? We've both always relied on brute strength, I don't see what the need is to poke things with a piece of metal. Feeling bone break under your fist when I have control is always satisfying.**

_Like I was thinking before, in this dimension I may come across a situation where the finesse of a blade works better than our simple brute strength._

**Bah! Whatever. I think it's pointless, but do what you will.**

One of the shorter blades caught Naruto's attention, and he reached out to grab it. Pulling it out from its sheath, the silver-colored sword reflected the various sources of lighting in the shop, weaving strange patterns on the metal. Waving it around in the air briefly, it was definitely heavier and a little more cumbersome than he initially expected. He'd never held more than a kunai or tench knife, however, so the additional weight was not entirely unexpected.

Holding the sword, he walked back over to the blacksmith.

"This was the only thing I could find, though the blade is a little wide. Can you make one about half as wide as this?"

Setting his hammer and tongs down, the blacksmith grabbed the blade and eyed it carefully. "Hn. I could, but it ain't gonna be easy. My skills revolve more around makin' armor rather than swords, but I'll give it a shot. Won' be able to do a scabbard for a blade that size, so ya'll have ta find a craftsman."

"It's no problem. I already know one."

The blacksmith grunted, handing the sword back to Naruto. He had just reached to grab his hammer again when the opening of the squeaky-hinged door that was the shop entrance caused both Naruto and the blacksmith to turn their heads to see who entered. Naruto's eyes went wide immediately as he recognized the person, while the blacksmith simply called out to them.

"Hey Erza. Yer early. Wasn't expectin' ya for another few hours yet."

"Yes, I know. But I'm leaving shortly for a mission and I'll likely be gone for a couple days. I just wanted to let you know that you can take your time if other things come up."

"Well, how kind of ya. This young man was just askin' for me to do some work for him, so now I can do his too in a reasonable amount o' time."

Erza looked towards the blond. "Naruto? I'm surprised to see you in here. If you needed something, you could have asked me."

"Oh, so ya two know each other, then?"

Erza nodded at the blacksmith, then jerked her thumb towards Naruto while offering a small grin. "Yeah. He's my future partner."

The blacksmith's eyebrows rose for a moment, before a slow grin crawled over his face and he nodded. "Ah, I see. Someone finally managed to tame tha one and only Erza tha Titania, eh? Who'd a thought it?"

Naruto simply cocked his head to the side with a questioning look as the blacksmith smirked and Erza started to stutter.

"H-He's my teammate! Not what you're thinking!"

The blond felt himself blushing a little as Erza yelled at the blacksmith, immediately understanding what was going on. The grizzled older man simply looked at the both of them with an amused smile and a twinkle in his eye.

"I apologize fer tha misunderstandin' then. Now, if ya'll excuse me, I should get back ta work. These items ain't gonna make themselves."

Erza simply huffed a little before turning to Naruto and giving him a serious look. "Naruto, I need to talk to you for a second before I leave. I'll be waiting outside." That said, she promptly turned around and walked right back out. The door squealed once again, louder this time because of how forcefully Erza opened it.

The blacksmith chuckled. "Ya can just set that sword down on tha counter, lad. Don't want ta keep tha young miss waitin', might not be good fer yer health."

The blond nodded, gently setting the short sword down on the nearby counter. "I apologize if she seemed a bit... well, rude. She's usually not like that."

Chuckling, the older man shook his head and waved it off. "Don' worry 'bout it. I've known tha miss since she was a wee little thing, draggin' along Master Makarov to come buy her outfits and weapons that she couldn' afford yet. She's m' best client, and prolly also one of m' best friends. I seen sides of tha miss that few others likely have."

Offering a small smile, Naruto nodded at the man, then turned to leave the shop.

"Oh, one more thing, lad."

Stopping in his tracks and looking over his shoulder, he noticed that the smith was giving him a serious look.

"Erza obviously chose ya as her partner for a good reason, I know tha way she thinks better'n most. She'd seriously hurt m' if tha lass heard m' say this, but she's a good girl. Take care o' her."

Naruto offered a wry grin. "You don't have anything to worry about, mister."

"Glad ta hear it. Now git before she comes ta see what's keepin' ya."

* * *

Erza was staring at him as he exited the building, the squeaky door had likely alerted her to his exit from the shop.

"Naruto, there you are."

For some reason, her voice sounded uncharacteristically subdued. The last time she had been like this was at the party a few days ago, but even that didn't last long. They hadn't really had an opportunity to talk much since then. Apparently she had been busy in the planning stages of her large team-based S-Rank mission, the last one she needed before she was allowed to take them on her own. He had been running his own typical gamut of missions as well, so they had only crossed paths briefly, and even then few words were exchanged. Other than the quick conversation with the blacksmith earlier, he hadn't seen her smile once since the party, but he simply chalked it up to her being nervous. Apparently S-Ranked missions were a big thing in this dimension, but from the descriptions he'd been constantly been hearing of them, they didn't sound all that difficult.

He tried to give her a big smile to see what kind of reaction he'd get. "Hey Erza! I haven't seen much of you since the party! How have you been?"

It took a few seconds, but the ghost of a smile twitched its way onto her lips. "I've been... nervous. Thank you for asking, though."

"I'm your partner, you shouldn't need to thank me for asking. I should always be aware of how you're doing."

Erza broke eye contact for a second, and the smile grew a little larger, but she didn't blush or seem embarrassed at all. "I still thank you all the same. You're the only one who's asked me how I feel. Everyone else simply thinks I'll do fine, but whenever I think about the mission... my heart starts pounding and I start to feel sweaty."

"That's a normal reaction. I like to think I've always been a confident person, but one time I was so overwhelmed with missions, relationships with friends, and responsibilities... I actually hyperventilated and passed out."

Erza's eyes were like saucers for a moment before a true smile appeared on her face. "I have a hard time imagining that. You've always been level headed and calm since I met you."

Naruto shrugged, looking away. "I haven't had a chance to really let the demon out. That's all."

**Ohhh, clever.**

Erza smirked. "Let the demon out? I can't wait to see that. You're still very mysterious, and everyone is asking me about you, since I seem to know you best."

Naruto sighed a little, closing his eyes rubbing his forehead. He knew where this was going, but everyone seemed to respect Erza, so perhaps she could handle the truth. Since she was going to be his partner on future missions, it would also be for the best.

"Hey... Erza. Let's go to my apartment."

"W-What?"

Naruto opened his eyes to look at Erza with confusion, only to see that her eyes were wide once again and a blush was quickly working its way across her face.

"I said let's go to my apartment. There are some things I need to tell you, and it would be best if there weren't any eavesdroppers. Since you're going to be my partner soon, there are things you need to know."

"O-oh. I see. Very well, let's go." Erza swiftly turned around and brought her hands to her face. Her arms were moving and she was obviously doing something as she started walking away, but whatever it was, he couldn't see. She was walking away at nearly a jogging pace as well, he had to move fast to catch up.

_Huh, she's acting odd. Was it something I said?_

**Yes.**

_It was? What?_

**I said you were clever before. I take that back. You are so oblivious it sometimes makes you seem clever. I thought your mother was bad at times, but she doesn't hold a candle to you.**

_Hey! Uh... what do you mean?_

**You insufferable little... ugh, never mind. Go away.**

**

* * *

**

**A Magical Meeting: The Fire Shadow of Fairy Tail**

_by Claire Stearn_

_Weekly Sorcerer Staff Writer_

_We know how much our readers enjoy getting information on everyone's favorite guild in Fiore - Fairy Tail - and this journalist managed to snag a brief interview with their newest confirmed member. You read correctly, none other than the Fire Shadow himself!_

_First allow me to start by saying that the man is an absolute hunk. Blond hair and blue eyes, a nice strong chiseled jaw and strange markings that can be interpreted as either birthmarks or tattoos on his face. What exactly they were was going to be a question that I would have asked, alas - the interview was short and we were at a party, so I didn't want to hound my interviewee by playing a game of twenty questions._

_However, he did tell me that he'd be willing to interview with me again in the future, so keep your eyes glued to future issues of WS if you want the inside scoop!_

_Many of you have probably read little tidbits here and there in this publication, or perhaps others; there is a new recognized member of Fairy Tail who was having immense luck at completing missions. While I admit that I am a rather new journalist, my wonderful editors decided that it would be a good opportunity for me to go to a party sponsored by Master Ringo of Ringo's Furniture Wholesale in Magnolia Town, and see if a rumor we had picked up on was going to bear fruit._

_The rumor was supposedly provided by the one and only Master Ringo himself, that he had invited the Fire Shadow to his party after said member of Fairy Tail had done him a wonderful service, and completed a mission for the man in record time. As with most rumors, my editors decided to go for it, and I was given my first opportunity to conduct an interview, assuming that the Fire Shadow showed up._

_Much to my relief and pleasant surprise, Fire Shadow did indeed show to the party. Not only that, but there was another surprise! He had Erza the Titania on his arm! That's right, folks, you read it here first! The Fire Shadow was taking Erza the Titania on a date to Master Ringo's party!_

_I followed them through several rooms of the mansion until they arrived near the main area, where they went their separate ways. I watched as the Fire Shadow moved through the room, only to settle at a table near the back. As you read by the opening editorial, I am the newest staff writer to this magazine, and therefore I was incredibly nervous. Still, I steeled myself and moved forward, asking the Fire Shadow if he would mind partaking in a short interview._

_At first, he seemed surprised that I was asking him for an interview, then he thought about it for a moment before smiling at me and agreeing to sit through a few questions. I did only manage to get in three questions before ending the interview, but I felt that they were all worth it._

_The first thing I asked, as I'm sure many other wonder as well, was what his real name was. He seemed to expect this as a question, however, and promptly told me that it would make him more interesting for both myself and WS's dear readers if his real name remained a secret. Strangely enough, I found myself agreeing with his statement, and left it at that. Worry not, for I will find out what it is one day!_

_Moving on, I next asked what made him decide to join Fairy Tail. Apparently his home is somewhere beyond the eastern mountains of Fiore, and he has a friend who was out here for a while. His friend knew of Fairy Tail's name and reputation, and told him that perhaps he should try to join up with them._

_Amazingly enough, Fire Shadow did just that. Not just that, but apparently the Guild Master Makarov decided that he should be allowed to join, even though Fairy Tail has a reputation for recruiting younger mages. Judging by the success rate of Fire Shadow's missions, however, I would have to agree that Master Makarov's decision was a wise one._

_Finally, I asked for some insight as to what his exact skill set was. To my surprise, not only did he tell me, but he gave me a small demonstration as well. Fire Shadow can make solid clones of himself, ones that look real and act just like he does, and both he and the clones can teleport short distances immediately. Personally, I thought it was rather amazing, and I quickly understood how he could be so successful with his missions. I'm sure that along with me everyone is also thinking, 'Thank goodness he's a good guy!'._

_After the short demonstration, I had planned to ask more questions, but to my delight several other members of Fairy Tail showed up. Erza the Titania had arrived at the table, along with the up and coming Salamander Natsu and Lisanna of the Take Over Trio. I hadn't seen the other two arrive at the party itself, however, so I was left to wonder exactly when..._

_

* * *

_

"Naruto. I've got someone I'd like you to meet. Come with me."

Silence reigned in the guild hall as Makarov walked over to the table Naruto was seated at and asked him to follow. Nodding to the Guild Master, Naruto promptly stood, handing his borrowed copy of Weekly Sorcerer back to Cana as he walked by where she was seated. Naruto had heard that it was unusual for the Guild Master to request a person's presence in his office unless there was some sort of problem that had arisen, so he could only guess as to what Makarov needed him for.

There weren't many people in the hall at the time, but that just meant rumors would persist later in the day as the few who saw Naruto being called would relay it to everyone else. He'd likely be bombarded with questions once he left the office, which would likely be annoying, especially if Natsu caught wind of it.

Naruto's focus returned as he passed the threshold into Makarov's office. Unlike the previous times he'd been in the office alone with the Guild Master, this time there was already someone inside the office, apparently waiting for them to return. The person was dressed in clothing that reminded him of what the travelers in Wind Country used to wear as they traversed the desert, including the headgear that covered everything but their eyes. As they entered, the other person turned minutely to see who it was who was coming into the office, then promptly turned to face the desk once again.

Makarov pointed at the other free chair at his desk as he walked towards his own. Nodding slightly, Naruto moved over towards the empty seat, looking at the other person in the room but trying not to be too obvious about it. If the stranger noticed at all, he or she made no indication of it.

Makarov began talking before he even settled into his chair, "The first thing I'd like to do is introduce both of you to each other. While I know the two of you are very strong, you're both also relatively new members of Fairy Tail, and I don't think you've had the opportunity to meet each other yet."

Naruto looked at the stranger once again, shaking his head. The stranger, however, made no movement at all.

"Mystogan, this is Fire Shadow. Fire Shadow, this is Mystogan. I'm not sure if you want to know each others real names, but I'll leave that choice up to you. You both seem to value privacy to a certain degree."

Naruto promptly turned in his chair, offering Mystogan a huge smile and his hand to shake. "I don't mind if others in the guild know who I am. The name's Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!"

The other mage turned his head slightly after hearing Naruto speak, first towards Naruto's face then down at his hand. Naruto's smile started to drop a little as the other mage did nothing for a moment, until Mystogan reached up with one hand and slowly pulled off the headgear, revealing a young man with blue hair and a tattoo design that wrapped around his right eye. A corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a not-quite smile, and he grabbed Naruto's offered hand.

"My name is Jellal. I have forsaken my surname since I came to this place. Do you know of Edolas?"

Naruto squinted his eyes in thought, and began scratching at his head after Mystogan released his hand from the shake. "A little. I know that it's in another dimension, but that's about it."

Jellal nodded once, turning back towards Makarov as he spoke. "That is my homeland. I'm in a self-imposed exile. I can explain more if it becomes necessary."

"I see. I'm from another dimension too, but it isn't Edolas. I can explain more later too, if you're curious."

He saw Jellal glimpse at him from the corner of his eyes, and nod once again, but the other mage said nothing more. Understanding that was all, Naruto turned to look at Makarov as well.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, I have an assignment for the both of you. It seems that a team we just sent out fell into a bit of a trap. I just heard not too long ago, and I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of details."

"Was that... Erza's group? Are they okay?"

Makarov held a hand up, and Naruto settled back down in the chair, muttering an apology.

"As I said, I just found out. I'm as worried as you are, if not moreso, and that's why I'm sending who I believe are the next three strongest people in Fairy Tail after them. I've already sent Gildarts, whom both of you know. He is still preparing for his upcoming mission, but was willing to help out. You can both travel faster than he can, so I'm sure you'll reach him before he arrives at the destination."

The Guild Master was frowning as he rested his head in the palm of one of his hands, elbow propped up on the table. Naruto just now noticed that Makarov was sitting on a pile of books that had been placed into his chair, apparently he had never located the booster seat that he had mentioned a while ago. If the situation wasn't so serious, he might have laughed at how funny it looked.

"This was a multi-guild mission, Fairy Tail went with two other guilds to apprehend the members of the Dark Guild, Scarlet Bow, that the Mage Council managed to locate the headquarters of. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, it was a trap. One of the guilds we partnered with, Blue Pegasus, has two telepathic members who can relay information immediately back and forth to each other, and it was through them that we found out that our group had been split up into several smaller ones. Also, instead of just facing Scarlet Bow, by last count they have been attacked by three other Dark Guilds that they have been able to identify."

Makarov sighed before he continued, "I have absolute faith that my grandson Laxus and his Team Raijinshuu can keep themselves and Erza alive, but considering what they are up against, it doesn't look good for their chances of escape. Supposedly the enemy numbers are overwhelming. At this point I don't even care about completing the mission of capturing the members of Crimson Bow, I just want our members back here and safe."

Naruto smacked both hands down on the armrests of the chair he was sitting in. "No problem old man! We'll bring them back, and finish the mission! Yeah!" He plastered a huge grin on his face, and looked between the other two in the room. Makarov couldn't help but grin back at his newest member, and even Mystogan had a small grin on his face.

"If you can finish the mission, that's great. But it's not my biggest concern. Speaking of the mission, that reminds me of one more thing..." Makarov turned his head slightly to stare at Naruto, "I know you aren't officially allowed to take S-Ranked missions since it hasn't been a month yet, but it's close enough so I'm bending the rules big time to allow you to go. Do you believe you can handle it?"

Naruto scoffed. "Easily. I used to do missions like this all the time back home."

Smiling again, Makarov nodded. "From what you told me, this kind of thing seemed right up your alley. Since Mystogan is allowed to do S-Ranked missions, I'm going to have him report to me as to how well you handle this. You will be in charge, and he will follow your orders as long as they make sense. If he feels you did well enough, and everyone makes it back alive, I'll push the Mage Council to let you take S-Ranked missions a little sooner than you would be able to otherwise. Understood?

Makarov wasn't completely certain, but Naruto's grin looked somewhat... feral. "Perfectly, old man."

"What about you?"

"I understand, Master."

Nodding at the two, Makarov tossed a map on the desk in front of him, then used both hands in a shooing gesture. "Alright, get outta here, both of you. Here's a map, showing the approximate location where they were ambushed. It's about 4 hours on a train and another hour of running to get there. Use my window so you don't get bogged down in questions by the rest of the guild. If I haven't heard any updates in two days, I'll assume the worst and be coming after all of you myself with the rest of the guild in tow. I'd rather not have it go that far."

**Do you think I can come out to play this time?**

_Again?_

**What do you mean, 'again'? Last time you let me out was for all of a minute, and it wasn't even what I'd call a fight.**

"Master, I have one question before we go?"

Makarov looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, and Mystogan turned away from the window to look at Naruto as well, tucking the map into a pouch on his belt.

"I understand that we're up against several Dark Guilds, and the mission was originally only to bring down Crimson Bow?"

Nodding slowly, Makarov didn't say anything, but allowed Naruto to continue.

"Okay, I guess I have three questions instead. My second one is, should I treat all the Dark Guilds the same? If we can capture any members of any of the guilds, it would be good, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright, and lastly... it doesn't matter what condition they are in as long as they are alive, right?"

Makarov looked at Naruto sharply, his eyes squinting slightly. Even Mystogan seemed to tense up a little, but Naruto couldn't say for sure.

"As long as they are alive and able to talk... yes, I would say that is the minimum expected. Why do you ask?"

Naruto pat one of his hands over his stomach a couple times, and Makarov's face immediately took on a look of comprehension. He nodded slowly, "Even if there are no consequences to killing members of a Dark Guild, I make it a guild policy that we don't kill people. Try to avoid it to the best of your ability."

**Ugh, even the humans here seem to be unable to appreciate a good slaughter. But if it means I can come out for a little while, I'll avoid killing anyone. The longer I go without a release, the harder it is to keep my impulses under control, even with you helping. But you already know this.**

Naruto nodded, both to Kyuubi and Makarov. "No deaths, but some of them might bleed."

"I don't care if they bleed a little. They just shouldn't die."

"You got it old man." Naruto turned his attention to Mystogan, who was still standing next to the window.

"I just need to stop by my apartment to grab my new uniform. This is a good chance to test it. Meet me by the south gate in ten?"

Mystogan nodded, and promptly shimmered from sight.

"Remember, Naruto. Two days."

The blond looked over his shoulder and offered the Guild Master a grin and a thumbs up as he put one foot on the base of the window.

"We'll be back by tomorrow night at the latest. Just relax and have Mirajane get you a beer, old man."

Naruto shimmered from sight, leaving Makarov chuckling behind him.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

Mage Council Classification: C-Rank Mage  
Notes: No new developments. Check first interview, WS Vol. 14, Is 22 for potential insights.

Member Since: October 21st, 782 (3 weeks, 5 days)  
Completed Solo Missions: 35  
Completed Team Missions: 1  
Reward to Date: 387,224 Jewels

* * *

**A/N**: This one took a little longer than usual to get out because I got a new monster of a computer, and got distracted playing some of my old games again with shiny new graphics. That's really my only excuse, so sorry about that. Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint, and I'm pretty sure the next one, which is already in the works, won't at all. But you know, opinions and all that jazz...

_Naruto's Fighting Style _- I don't think I'm going to have him use any one person's particular style, nor have him create one, even for when he uses a blade. He'll just do whatever he feels is convenient to do. He'll also do fights in five to six stages depending on your interpretations and the strength of the enemy (not including the one next chapter). Stage One, standard brawling, quick movement, sword and kunai are okay. Stage Two, throw some shinobi techniques into the mix. Stage Three starts to use the Kyuubi, and I won't spoil the rest. Perhaps I'll clearly label them in his guild card once he's used them.

_Rikudou Sennin Mode _- I don't really know if you can consider it a 'mode' or whatnot, since it happened in his mind, but for the sake of fanfiction I may make it an external 'stage'. I haven't decided.

_Showing Erza's Mission_ - I think this chapter answers that question, no? It was a pretty good guess as to what I was planning on doing to show the higher-ups in the guild what exactly Naruto is capable of.

_Grading Naruto's Test _- As stated, it will be Mystogan.

_Naruto's Team Name_ - Not likely to have one. I haven't decided, as Natsu and company will be 'merging' into the team later, as in canon.

_Naruto Rivalry_ - He won't see himself as having one, though Natsu, Gray, and probably Gajeel will see him as one.

_Naruto's Awareness_ - Talking to Kyuubi - Quirk incoming, hint hint.

_High Heels_ - Tsunade's high heels aren't -that- big, they are platform heels that elevate her slightly, perhaps an inch or two. Erza was essentially wearing stiletto heels that added several inches to her height, hence why Naruto noticed. I probably could have clarified, sorry about that. One of those in my mind 'its okay for the writer but not the reader' moments.

_Erza and Naruto Non-S-Rank Missions_ - They'll happen, though probably in the background. I think everyone would only want to read the interesting stuff, after all. Painting fences? Naaaah...

_Madara's Boo Boo_ - Kyuubi did nothing. Madara was just an idiot, as Kyuubi said. Exactly what happened? Can't say now.

_Dragons_ - Will appear again.

_N.U. Phone Home_ - He'll see Earthland as the 'home away from home', but will always have the desire to see Konoha again.

_Update Soon_ - Nah, don't feel like it.

_Naruto Canon_ - Well draw me a manga and call me Kishimoto, you think it might end in 50 chapters? I give it another hundred, especially if the war gets dragged out.

_Fairy Tail Canon Comparison_ - FT Canon won't change much, with a handful of exceptions. Some of those 'defining NarutoxErza moments' will be mixed into canon.

_Sexy Jutsu_ - Well, there was that whole swimsuit issue Lisanna mentioned...


	9. Kyuubi's Guide To Party Crashing

Chapter 9

Looking over the side of the cliff, Naruto gazed at the veritable battlefield in the valley below. The elements had obviously wreaked havoc throughout the area; from scorched plants, to large puddles, to trees that had been uprooted and strewn about in a haphazard display.

"Looks like they have quite the party going on. I can't wait to crash it."

Naruto looked towards the voice from up on his perch in a tree near the edge of the cliff, the branch he was currently crouched on was the closest to the cliffside. He had to turn his head more than normal, the eye holes of his mask limited his vision more than he liked - something he would have to rectify later. His eyes centered on Gildarts, a giant of a man who's claim to fame was that he had immense physical strength, and his magic only made him stronger. Naruto had shaken his hand when they met up, and the grip was enough to make him wince at first. Focusing chakra into his hand, Naruto decided to repay the favor, causing Gildarts to laugh and pat Naruto's shoulder with his other hand, forcing the shinobi's feet into the ground up to his ankles.

Needless to say, it would not be something he'd try again anytime soon, unless they happened to spar. It was a good thing Gildarts was on their side, otherwise that would definitely be one interesting fight.

They had made decent speed, running along the train tracks faster than the trains would actually be able to get them to their destination. Both he and Mystogan met up with Gildarts shortly after, who had only been walking for a few minutes towards the supposed ambush point. Naruto created two clones, who managed to balance Gildarts between them as they ran, and as a result they managed to arrive at the mission location in a half the time Makarov had anticipated it would take.

"Doesn't look like much of a party. They've made a mess of the place. Master was correct, though - our guys definitely look overwhelmed. Most of the fighting has stalled, it looks like they're trying to tire our guys out for capture, probably to interrogate then use as slaves."

"I agree."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Naruto looked carefully out over the battlefield, trying to locate Erza or Laxus, the two he was most familiar with. Almost as if they knew he was looking, a bright flash happened near one of the groups, and a crack of thunder followed not far behind. Zooming in quickly on that location, Gildarts spoke what Naruto was thinking.

"Looks like that's where Laxus is. It's hard to see, but I can make out two other figures with him. One looks like a gal with green hair... and the other looks like they have some kind of armor on."

"Erza?"

Gildarts shrugged. "I can't see the hair, so I can't say for sure. The only one from Team Raijinshuu who wears armor is Bixlow, but that definitely doesn't look like him."

Naruto sighed, then jumped down off the branch, landing silently between the rock Mystogan was sitting on, and near the edge of the cliff where Gildarts was standing.

"What are your orders, Fire Shadow?"

The blond looked back over his shoulder at Mystogan briefly, then nodded and faced forward once again.

"How many hostiles do you estimate? A hundred?"

He heard Mystogan shift and start walking over towards them as Gildarts shrugged, answering, "About that, probably. Give or take twenty."

Naruto thought as he rubbed his hands together. He felt as the fabric of his gloves stopped when approaching his fingertips, he had purposefully had the gloves altered to keep the top of his fingers exposed. Whenever the Kyuubi was released, his fingernails tended to grow longer into psuedo-claws, and he didn't feel like constantly having to replace his gloves.

"The main objective will be to locate whoever the leaders are and neutralize them. With that done, the morale of the combined Dark Guilds should drop, making it easier for us to round up the lackeys. Hopefully there is one person in charge that will send the other captains into disarray..."

Gildarts grunted in acknowledgement as Naruto's voice trailed off, while Mystogan remained his typically silent self.

"You two can get into the fray however you want. I'll launch a few fireballs at the largest concentrations, hopefully that will distract our opponents enough to let us get help from the various surrounded groups down there. The more they can distract, the faster we can isolate the leaders. They'll probably be barking out orders, so listen carefully."

"Did Master give any restrictions?"

Naruto looked at Gildarts briefly, before turning back towards the battlefield, then shook his head.

"No deaths. Master prohibits it, but broken bones and cuts are fine. They need to be able to talk, that's all."

He heard Gildarts crack his knuckles and chuckle, "Sounds good to me. It's been a while since I've really been able to let loose. I'm ready to go whenever."

Nodding, Naruto turned to Mystogan. "Everything clear?"

The quiet man said nothing as usual, settling for a nod. Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled a long staff with something that looked like a fan attached to the end out of some kind of wrapping cloth on his back.

Reaching his own hand up, Naruto flipped a catch on the inside of his mask, causing the portion just below his nose to slide down a bit, esposing his mouth and chin. It was a necessary adjustment if he wanted to use several of the fire, water, and wind techniques that he knew.

"Try to keep your distance from each other while fighting to do the most damage. Other than that, have fun."

With a grunt, Gildarts leapt off the side of the cliff, and Mystogan used his odd device to perform some sort of gliding technique as he ran off the cliff as well.

_Are you ready?_

**You have to ask?**

_Just checking. Give 'em hell. Don't forget the fireballs._

**Like I could forget fireballs. Let's go, I'm itching for some action.**

Naruto closed his eyes, then took a backseat in his mind and began to enjoy the show.

* * *

"Graaah! Keep your stupid toy cats away from me!"

Erza watched from her peripheral vision as the green haired woman who had identified herself earlier as Karen from the Blue Pegasus Guild beat a stick she had picked up into the ground in front of her. One of the mages had what seemed to be two large cats under their thrall, they had been almost teasing her, getting closer and closer until she swung the stick around like a madwoman, only to back off completely and slowly move in again.

It was a rinse and repeat cycle, but that held true for the opponents that both her and Laxus were facing as well. She had been through several sets of armor and weapons in the past several hours, trying to find a way to counter those she was up against. Unfortunately the number of enemies was too great, and if she got an advantage on one, one or more mages moved in to neutralize whatever advantage she gained.

On her other side, Laxus wasn't faring much better. He was faster than every enemy they had faced so far, but he worked much better in one on one and few on one situations, not a horde against a few. While his techniques using lighting were quick and potent, there was a downtime between using each of them that would leave him open. Erza and Karen had a hard enough time fending off their own attackers, let alone fending off anyone who tried to harm him while he was in cool-down mode.

Scratch that. She'd likely be fending off his attackers on her own, since the two of them were keeping attacks away from Karen, who was essentially useless.

"Will you shut up already, Karen? He's not gonna stop attacking you with his kitty-cats just because you dont want him to!"

"Don't talk to me like that, Laxus! Ugh, I can't believe I asked you out on a date, you're an ass!"

Erza breathed deeply a few times, trying to keep her own patience in check. Karen was a Celesital Mage, who she knew were rare but thought that as a result, they might be somewhat powerful. Especially one who was able to do S-Ranked missions.

However, the moment they were surrounded and she called out her first spirit, Aires, she set the spirit to 'distract' the enemy mages to keep them away from her. It worked, at first, until a few female mages came along and started beating on the female celestial spirit, who seemed too nervous to properly defend herself.

Karen had immediately berated the spirit, then proceeded to call on one of her other spirits, Leo. Erza hadn't been able to pay attention to much of their conversation, or whatever it was. By the time she fended off the attack that was aimed at her, Leo was gone with Aires, and Karen was yelling unsensibly and waving around a stick in anger, swinging at empty air.

That happened several hours ago, and she had tried calling them back a few times since then, but neither of them showed up to aid her. Every failed summons also ended with a tantrum of sorts from Karen, which didn't settle down until Laxus would again threaten to strike her with lightning and throw her to the enemy.

Erza watched as an illusion started forming in front of her, causing her to grit her teeth and grab her sword tighter. This was the opponent she liked facing the least of all of them so far. The illusions were just that, illusions, but the worst part was that it could solidify temporarily in various locations if it wished, causing her harm. Only if she broke up the illusion enough by swinging her sword through it would it cause the illusion to disperse. It wouldn't be so bad if there was only one of them - she usually had to fend them off a dozen at a time. The only positive thing was that doing this obviously took a lot out of her enemy as well, in the several hours they had been at this standoff, this was only the third time she'd had to deal with them.

A loud _thump_ noise, followed by a trembling beneath her feet caused her to look around to see what caused it, but the redhead could not immediately spot anything. She noticed several of the enemies in front of her looking off to somewhere behind her, but nothing became clear until Laxus spoke.

"Well, it looks like the cavalry has arrived. Finally."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a cloud of smoke over by the cliff to the south, where I'm facing. I see someone gliding down here, as well as someone still up on the cliff too. Kinda far though, can't see them clearly."

Risking a glance, Erza looked over her shoulder in the direction Laxus indicated, only to see a dust cloud expanding near the base of the cliff. Looking further, she saw another person falling slowly towards them, like Laxus indicated. Even though he said there was another person on top of the cliff, in the brief time she looked, she failed to see anyone.

"That looks like Mystogan gliding down. That means the reinforcements are Fairy Tail."

"Only an A-Rank mage? Hopefully gramps sent him with some other strong mages. I'll only be happy if I see Gildarts. He hasn't left yet, has he?"

Erza was about to reply, but Karen cut in, "Gildarts? You mean _the_ Gildarts? Ohhh please let him be here!"

Rolling her eyes, Erza decided against mentioning that he might be busy prepping for the Hundred Year Mission still, for fear of setting Karen off into another tantrum.

"Maybe Mirajane too? What'cha think, Erza?"

"It would be nice to have Satan Soul right now, but I doubt it. She hadn't returned from the mission she was on when we left, I doubt Master would let her back out this soon. I bet it's Na- Fire Shadow."

"Huh? The new guy? I'll admit, he's pretty strong from what I've seen, but isn't it too soon for him?"

Erza couldn't help but grin and let out a chuckle. "You know how much Master likes to bend the rules. Fire Shadow would be the best one to send right now."

"What makes you say- wai-wait! Duck!"

Erza didn't need to be told twice. Knowing that Karen wouldn't likely follow directions like she would, she roughly grabbed the other woman's shoulder, yanking the summoner down on her ass as Erza fell to her knees and leaned forward, ducking down.

"OW! You bitch, what- ahhh!"

Erza craned her head upwards as a decently sized fireball flew over them, the intense heat radiating from it causing her skin to flush almost immediately. She vaguely recognized panicked cries as their enemies tried in vain to get out of the way.

The concussive force of the fireball hitting the ground nearby sent many of the mages flying a small distance, it was still strong enough by the time the wave hit her to knock her backwards from her knees onto her rear. Karen screamed again, which seemed to be typical for her, and Erza even heard Laxus let out a grunt.

The next noise she heard, however, caused her to turn and look at the direction it came from... the cliff. It was a loud, inhuman roar, and it was incredibly loud.

"What... what was that? It didn't sound friend-ughhh..."

As Karen was talking, a smothering presence settled over them, and Erza found that breathing became hard; it was all she could do to gasp in air. Next to her, Karen had started to lose what little contents she might have had in her stomach, and a glance at Laxus showed that even he was pasty-white and looking uneasy.

"What the hell is this... this feeling?"

Erza did her best to get her breathing under control, and planted her hands on the ground in front of her as she struggled back to her feet. "This... Fire Shadow warned me... about this. This is... something he can do..."

With a grunt, Erza managed to force herself back to her feet, but was still wobbling around unsteadily. The oppressive force was still there, but she was slowly getting used to it. Taking a look around, it seemed as if many of her previous enemies were unable to cope with the smothering feeling, and were trying to regain their focus from where they sat or lay. Laxus was working his way back to his feet, she noticed, while Karen seemed to be content lying in a pool of her on vomit on the ground.

Some of the stronger willed enemies seemed to be congregating back into groups of their own, likely around various leaders on the field who could give them direction. Squinting, she noticed a tall man running straight for one of the larger groups. She lifted her arm and pointed, Laxus followed with his gaze.

"Gildarts is here. We've got this fight won now."

Laxus nodded and started to talk, but let out a few hacking coughs first. "Good. Let's help him out."

Erza started to nod, but then stopped, and turned to look at their third member. "What about Karen? We shouldn't leave her here."

The blond simply gave her an incredulous look. "What? Why not, it's not like she helped us any."

There was a cough from below them. "Y-You... bastard. Help... help me, dammit."

Erza simply looked at Laxus, who scowled, then rolled his eyes and grabbed Karen's arms, hoisting the useless woman to her feet. Lifting one of her arms and draping it over his shoulder, he looked at Erza once again. "Where to, _boss_?"

Ignoring the sarcasm, Erza started to reply but was beaten to it by another voice, one she vaguely recognized but couldn't place.

"East. Everyone is meeting up there. Cause distraction if you can on your way, but leave the rest up to Gildarts, Fire Shadow, and myself."

"Mystogan!"

Erza turned just in time to see Mystogan nod at their group, and then slowly fade from sight.

"He didn't reply?"

Laxus grunted. "Just an illusion sent to give us instructions, looks like."

Another somewhat distant roar got the attention of the two Fairy Tail members, and they turned just in time to see several of their previous enemies go flying through the air as they let out cries of pain. Erza swore she saw something glowing a reddish-orange through the other bodies between her and whatever was causing the commotion, but she couldn't be sure.

"Can you see what's over there? It seems to be where most of them are moving to, but I can't see much.

"Nope. Whatever it is, it's keeping them mostly busy, which is good for us. We have to get to the other side of this mess, after all."

Nodding, Erza swapped her sword for a smaller, faster one, and did the same for the armor she was wearing. They needed to move fast and strike down any potential encounters quickly.

"Let's move."

* * *

"**Grand Fireball!"**

A large fireball formed in front of Naruto's body, only for the Kyuubi to forcibly use his chakra and split it into three, then launch them all to various places on the battlefield where the concentration of enemies was high. None of the fireballs were aimed directly at people - only at the ground nearby - but some of the enemies might get a little singed.

"**That should get the attention of a lot of them. Now for the fun part.**"

Taking in a deep breath, the Kyuubi let out a huge roar, enough to make sure that everyone below could hear him.

_Full cloak, level one?_

**Should be good enough. I doubt anyone down there is worth going level two over. Let 'er rip.**

Letting a feral grin spread over his face as he fixed the mask, Kyuubi felt as his own power surged through Naruto's body, nine tails from the chakra cloak spreading out and waving around behind him.

**It was a good thing you got these gloves adjusted, otherwise they'd have holes.**

_I know, that's why I did it. Now go cause havoc. The longer we swap like this, the longer the recovery time is, and I'd rather not be on the outs for that long._

**I know, I know. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.**

Not needing to be told more than once, the Kyuubi pumped chakra into Naruto's legs and feet, and shot down the side of the cliff like a rocket. Three quarters of the way down, he could hear clamoring voices of the leaders of the various Dark Guilds calling for people to get back to their senses and form defensive ranks.

Leaping off the cliffside and touching down onto the ground, Kyuubi once again took off, quickly overtaking the expanding dust cloud from where Gildarts landed. He saw the man running towards the grouping enemies ahead, only to hear him laugh and ask to be saved some as Kyuubi quickly overtook and shot past him.

**For a human, he ain't so bad.**

_Now that is definitely a first._

**Yeah, on second thought, maybe I'm just saying that because I'm looking forward about what's to come.**

As he approached the quickly regrouping enemies, he began to pick up scents from Naruto's now overly sensitive nose. The ones that stuck out the most were nervousness and fear, the two that Kyuubi enjoyed most. There was one scent that seemed to be much stronger than the others though...

Shifting his eyes side to side, Kyuubi smirked behind the mask as he noticed the brave fool that was actually charging towards him. It was a burly man, he wasn't wearing a shirt, had a mowhawk style haircut, and definitely had plenty of muscle. That just meant he could take a bigger beating, nothing more.

Letting out another, smaller roar as he approached, Kyuubi jumped up with Naruto's body, all nine tails waving madly behind him. Reaching one hand forward, the chakra cloak extended, the hand itself growing bigger as it shot forward to grasp the torso of the man.

The muscled man was obviously not expecting this, as the chakra coated hand slammed him back into the ground with a large grunt. Landing next to the man, Kyuubi immediately started running towards the group once again, pushing the man in front of him into the ground along the way hard enough to leave a trough in the ground as they moved. The man was yelling something unintelligible and smacking at Naruto's arm, something about pain and burning.

Kyuubi lifted the man up once again as they got even closer to the group, then proceeded to throw the mage, sending him sailing towards a smaller group of his fellows. They all proceeded to yell out as the mowhawked man crashed into them, sending the few of them falling to the ground under his weight.

Right at about the time the man crashed into his fellows, Kyuubi finally reached one of the larger groups of mages on the battlefield. Immediately spying the one person of the group that seemed to be moving his lips and shouting orders as the others just stood around, he snarled and leapt into the air once again.

Startled shouts and random blasts of weak magic bounced off of his cloak as he landed right in the middle of the group, breaking the leg of one mage who he forcefully landed on, and badly scratching the arm of a female who was trying to hit him with some kind of power that blinded him temporarily - not that he needed Naruto's eyes to sense where anyone was. As those two started screaming in pain, the apparent leader started scrambling backwards, still doing his best to shout out some orders.

"Concentrate, you idiots! Concentrate! It's only one man, focus and we'll tire him out just like the rest!"

Kyuubi let out a deep chuckle, then made a beeline for the man who just finished talking. That is, until he smashed face first into a wall of air. He was stopped so suddenly that he almost fell backwards completely, but he was able to recover fast enough to focus on the cloak tails, pushing them into the ground and keeping him on his feet.

Hearing the man who spoke before start to bark out more orders; Kyuubi tuned them out as he focused on searching for the person who had halted his movement.

"Hah! How do you like my wind wall, you punk?"

Turning to where the voice came from, the Nine Tails couldn't help but let out another chuckle as he looked at the young man who was smirking at him. The smirk faded a bit as Kyuubi was chuckling, but never quite disappeared completely.

**"A wall of wind, huh? I guess I'll just have to break it then, won't I?"**

"You can try, buddy, but it ain't gonna happen. Nothing can get through my wind wall if I don't want it to! You're trapped!"

**Normally I wouldn't entertain the whelp and just smash through his ridiculous little wall, but I'm in a strange mood. Let's show him what real wind power is like.**

_One Great Breakthrough coming up._

The Kyuubi's chakra cloak pulled back from Naruto's hands as Naruto's conciousness resurfaced temporarily, and they immediately went through a series of hand signs. After that was done, both arms spread out completely.

**"Great Breakthrough!"**

Naruto brought his arms together, gathering the air around them and then launching the air forward into a highly focused wind storm. The air briefly shimmered around where Kyuubi had crashed into it, and much to the shock of the young man standing behind it, he was promptly lifted off his feet with a startled yelp and thrown dozens of meters backwards. He wasn't the only one either, some others had moved up closer to where the young man had been standing, likely to see just who it was that had been 'captured'. Nearly all of them were flung backwards at least several meters.

Kyuubi's chakra covered Naruto's arms and hands once again, then he looked around to see who was still nearby. The man who was giving orders previously was now hidden behind a wall of his own men, Kyuubi could still hear the orders clearly with his enhanced hearing, but visual contact was not possible. Accelerating to a jog, Kyuubi looked at each of the men and women in front of him, one by one, and watched them tense up. Most of them stood their ground, shooting everything from streams of water, to bits of rock, and one was even launching some kind of acidic substance.

It did nothing more than fizzle and dry up on his chakra cloak.

With a wave of his arm, Kyuubi sent out a pulse of chakra that knocked everything out of his path, and was apparently strong enough to send several mages stumbling backwards.

"Don't let that intimidate you! I didn't break all of you in training to have you fall to someone like this! He's an unknown, if they were really that strong, they'd be a Wizard Saint by now! I bet it's all an illusion!"

Kyubi threw his head back and laughed deeply after he heard the nonsense the supposed leader was spouting. The effect was immediate, several of the men and women looked ready to charge him beforehand, but the moment he laughed, several took an involuntary step backwards. Kyuubi knew he didn't sound human, and that was exactly what he wanted them to think.

**"You think I'm an illusion, do you? I'll show you just how horribly wrong that assumption is."**

As he spoke, the cloak around Naruto's hands thinned slightly, and hovered closer to the teen's skin. Holding up Naruto's hands, Kyuubi showed as his fingernails started growing longer, and ended at a sharp point. There were some yells, and a few of the mages tried to launch some of their spells at him, however none hit home as Kyuubi was immediately on the move again.

It was barely two seconds before he reached the first mage in the shield, an older man with a sruffy beard and a scar that went from his ear across his cheek to the base of his chin. Bringing up a hand, Kyuubi decided to scratch at the mans face to give him a matching set on the other side, then promptly elbowed him in the gut, making him keel over.

Next to him was another man, looking slightly younger but with a look of pure terror. Kyuubi relished in that look for barely another second before leaning down and ramming into the man with his shoulder. He felt several of the man's ribs give way as they broke, followed by the man screaming in pain and immedialty wrapping his arms around his chest as he went flying backwards. Several of the younger man's compatriots called out in shock as he crashed into them, all while the screams of pain continued.

Turning in another direction, and quicky noting that the apparent leader was now visible, Kyuubi quickly started moving towards him, only to have two men and a woman swiftly move in front of him, blocking his path. Of the three, only the woman seemed to be unafraid, the other two's knees were shaking but they somehow managed to maintain their ground.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Kyuubi brought around one of his chakra tails and extended it, flinging it against the midsection of two of the mages standing in his path, the woman and one of her companions. Both of them grunted as they had the wind knocked out of them, then yelped as the tail lifted them up off the ground and proceeded to send them flying over dozens of their comrades.

Eyeing the third, Kyuubi brought a hand up and started gathering chakra into his palm. The eyes of the nervous man were like saucers, reflecting the dull glow of the pulsing deep red chakra. As Kyuubi brought the hand back in preparation to launch the chakra at the mage in his way, his enhanced hearing picked up a new sound... something that sounded similar to water hitting fabric, followed by a foul odor.

It didn't take much longer for him to notice a wet spot began appearing between the legs of the nervous mage in front of him, and it continued growing larger. Smirking behind his mask, Kyuubi let the chakra in his hand disperse, then watched as the shaking mage kept looking back and forth between Naruto's hand and facemask.

**"Just kidding."**

As the mage's eyes went wide once again, Kyuubi instantly moved in front of the man and clocked him clean across his jaw, not hard enough to break it but definitely enough to send him into dreamland. The moment the mage hit the ground, the dull chatter around him started picking up in pace.

"Come on guys, protect the boss!"

"We're trying, did you see th- watch out!"

"What are those tail things! My magic can't hold them in place!"

"Move move move! He's coming thi- urack!"

Grabbing one of the female mages, Kyuubi simply picked her up and sent her crashing into another mage nearby, keeping his eyes focused on the leader. Apparently the leader had decided that running for his life was better than standing around giving orders, and was running away in earnest.

**Fool. He is just delaying the inevitable. I despise cowards - none of the enemies from your homeland would run like this. At least they had some semblance of honor.**

_Maybe you showed off a little too much? It looks like he's about to run into one of our allies, though. I noticed Laxus immediately, and it looks like that is Erza with him. She's in a different set of armor now._

**This could be amusing.**

**

* * *

**"Help! You're from one of the other guilds, right? I order you to stop whatever you're doing and help! A monster has descended on the battlefield, and I need you to delay it so I can get away."

A ragged looking man ran up to her, and leaned forward to place his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He had several splotches of blood on his clothes, but the clothing itself was still intact and he didn't seem to have any injuries of his own. Therefore the blood almost certainly belonged to those who were trying to protect him. Erza turned to look at Laxus, who was still holding Karen upright. He simply shrugged at her.

Turning back to the strange man, Erza straightened and looked down on him, gripping her sword tightly.

"Why should we help you, after all you've done here today?"

The man got a wild look in his eyes, then stood up so fast that he nearly toppled over backwards, one of his feet quickly shifted backwards to keep him upright.

"Y-You're not with us? No... no! I-I've got to get away! There's a monster after me! He can't be human! He'll get you too! He will, I just kno-"

Moving swiftly, Erza adjusted the grip on her sword and smashed the pommel against the side of the man's head. With a grunt, his rambling stopped, and he keeled over onto his side, unconscious. Apparently he was in too much shock to even consider using his magic power, whatever it might have been.

There was a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye, and the redhead turned to see Fire Shadow appear not too far away from where her small group was standing. Only, this likely wasn't the Fire Shadow she had become familiar with.

* * *

_"The first thing I have to tell you is this: I'm not from this dimension."_

_Erza was sitting across from Naruto, who was giving her a serious look. He had brought her to his small apartment to explain some things about himself that he felt she needed to know. The first bit of information was definitely a bit of a shock - though it wasn't anything completely unheard of._

_"So you're from Edolas?"_

_Naruto shook his head negatively, causing her eyebrows to lift. "No, I'm from somewhere else entirely. I'm from a place that was simply called the Elemental Nations. My home was a village called Konoha, in a land called Fire Country."_

_"I... I see. Is there anyone else? I mean... can you travel back and forth?"_

_Naruto's features darkened as a frown grew on his face. "No. I'm trying to find my way back, but I know it's going to take a while. I want to see it again someday, if possible. I don't plan on ever giving up hope."_

_"It's good to have a goal, something to work towards."_

_"Yes, though if I do find my way back, I don't think I'll see anyone here again. I can't tell if you've noticed or not, but sometimes I might seem like I deliberately try to avoid getting close to people. It's not that I don't want to be friendly... I just don't want to hurt anyone by my departure. I guess... I guess I'm telling you this now to warn you in case I disappear one day."_

_Erza's mouth opened to reply, but then she closed it, and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before opening her mouth again. "Why? If you can figure out how to get there, I'm fairly certain you could do the same thing again to get back here. At least, that seems to make sense."_

_Naruto was looking at her with surprise, but his expression quickly settled and he nodded. "I thought about that as well. If I can go back and forth, then it will be better. I just wanted you to know... in case I can't."_

_"Thank you. But I believe you'll find a way to go back and forth."_

_Chuckling, the blond shook his head but decided not to reply. Instead, he started another conversation. "Well, another thing I wanted to tell you about was one of my skills. I'll be blunt, I have a demon sealed inside of me and I can use its power."_

_Now that threw Erza for a loop. Naruto watched as she simply gaped at him for several long moments, only for it to end by her looking down and rubbing at her forehead._

_"Wow... um, sealed? So you don't let it merge with you, like Mirajane does with Satan Soul?"_

_"I haven't seen Satan Soul in action yet, so I can't really say. From what I hear, it's similar, but instead of summoning the demon to merge with, the demon is permanently sealed inside of me until either the seal ruptures somehow or I die. I can use the demon's power without needing permission, but we have a strange kind of agreement, so we work together to become even stronger."_

_Erza was gaping once again as she nodded slowly, letting the information sink in. It was widely known how powerful Mirajane was when she performed Satan Soul, and there was talk of her being classified as an S-Rank mage within the next several months. However, from the way Naruto explained it, he would already be stronger than Mirajane using Satan Soul._

_"Uhm... can I ask what kind of demon? I know that Mirajane uses a demon from the Fourth Circle, but that's it."_

_Naruto smirked and looked at her, but at the same time it seemed more like he was looking through her. When several seconds went by and he didn't say anything, she waved her hand in between them, trying to get his attention._

_"Naruto?"_

_He seemed to focus on her for barely a second before his eyes glassed over again. Now she was getting worried, and reached across the table to gently slap at his face._

_"Naruto!"_

_The teen promptly shook his head several times, then looked at her, blinking rapidly. "Huh? Oh... I'm sorry Erza. Were you saying something?"_

_Frowning, the redhead tried her best to avoid glaring at him. "I asked what kind of demon you have sealed in you."_

_"Oh, yeah, that." Naruto shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "The Kyuubi no Youko. Guardian of the Ninth Circle."_

_To say that she was stunned into complete silence would have been a grievous understatement._

_

* * *

_"Kyuubi."

The masked face immediately turned to look at her. The eye holes were small, but he was still close enough to see in them. Those were definitely not Naruto's eyes that were looking at her. These were blood red and had black slits going down the middle.

**"The one and only. Nice work on that scumbag, Titania, though perhaps a bit anticlimactic. I was hoping to see some blood."**

"I did what needed to be done. No sense in dragging it out."

Kyuubi growled for a moment, before offering an unnatural shrug and looking around.** "If you say so. He was annoying me, so I would have liked to watch him squirm for a bit before silencing him. But if that's how you Fairies want to play it..."**

"Fairies? Aren't you a member of Fairy Tail too? What's going on?" Laxus was staring at Fire Shadow, perhaps slightly nervous, though Erza couldn't tell. He might just have been tired from using his magic a lot, plus carrying Karen around.

**"I am not a member of your pathetic group. The boy I am bound to is. Do not confuse us, human."**

Laxus' mouth promptly shut as his eyes went wide. It likely wasn't hard for him to put the pieces together.

A brief series of screams caused the group to turn and see what caused it. Magic powers were sparkling down the field as several mages were visibly thrown quite a distance. Through the chaos, there was the faint sound of a man laughing.

**"It sounds like that Gildarts is having fun. He's definitely an interesting one, for a human."**

"Well, he is considered by many to be the strongest member in Fairy Tail, after Master."

Kyuubi let out a noise akin to a grunt, but said nothing further. The group proceeded to watch in silence as the Dark Guild mages who were in control barely twenty minutes ago were now turning tail and running for the nearby forested areas. Once their leaders had been knocked out of the fight, nothing was holding them together, and they began to rout.

Erza's eyes switched back to Kyuubi as the energy cloak surrounding Naruto's body slowly shrank in size, the swaying tails disappearing one by one. Gradually the entire cloak disappated, and it was once again Naruto's voice that was heard as he held up his hands into some kind of sign in front of him.

"Shadow Clones."

After a quick glance, it appeared that about two dozen clones were summoned. Naruto issued a quick series of capture orders, the clones immediately taking off to take down any stragglers.

Naruto turned around, but too quickly it seemed - he tripped over his own feet and nearly took a spill. Not saying a word but moving swiftly, Erza grabbed ahold of his shoulders to keep him steady.

"Are you okay?"

The blond nodded, but he was squinting and his breathing was obviously labored. "I probably shouldn't have made the clones so soon. I use a lot of my own strength to keep Kyuubi's powers from burning me inside out, so I need to rest before I do any intense techniques like my shadow clones. But it was urgent."

Erza didn't say anything further, but settled for a nod. She felt Naruto's eyes on her through his mask as she lifted one of his arms and draped it over her shoulders. Even if she was a little shorter than him, she could still support him after all the hard work he - and Kyuubi - did. Holding his arm with one hand, she wrapped her other arm around his back, placing a hand on his waist. The redhead knew he was still looking at her, but purposefully avoided looking in his direction.

"Hey, Erza, you sure you don't want me to support Fire Shadow? Karen's still unconscious, but she's probably lighter."

Erza gave Laxus a flat stare. "It's uneccesary. I can manage to assist Fire Shadow. Now let us move and meet up with the others, I see them gathering not far from here."

Laxus simply grunted, then turned while still carrying Karen, and started walking towards the growing group from their team.

"Thanks for the lift. I should be fine in a few minutes."

Naruto spoke softly into her ear so that only she could hear. She didn't look at him, but knew he'd be able to see the small smile from the side of her face.

"Take as long as you need. Thanks for the save earlier. I don't know if we'd have made it if you three didn't show up."

"Any time, Erza. Any time."

* * *

"I'll be honest. The results are much, much better than I think any of the Guild Masters or the most optimistic among the Mage Council believed it could be. A vertiable catastrophe was turned into an amazing victory."

"Aww shucks old man. You're going to make me blush."

Makarov threw his head back and laughed, holding his gut. Naruto, along with Mystogan, had remained behind once the main guild hall closed for the evening. Many members of the guild were in tears when Erza and Team Raijinshuu walked through the doors of the guild hall. Hugs were being tossed out in every direction, and even Makarov was misty-eyed; he immediately ordered a welcome home party and made himself busy so that no one could point it out.

Gildarts had gone back to his house, saying he wanted to get some sleep in his own bed, he had a hard time sleeping in the crappy cots on the train. That left Naruto and Mystogan to report in to the Guild Master about how the mission went.

"Be that as it may, I am a proud Guild Master this day. The three of you went to reinforce the team we sent out earlier against not just one or two entire Dark Guilds, but four of them. Something like this doesn't happen often, perhaps once a decade, and this will definitely be going into the history books. I'll make sure of it."

"Were those really Dark Guilds? They seemed like pushovers, old man."

Makarov looked at Naruto sharply before turning to Mystogan. "What do you think?"

Mystogan had since removed his headgear, and was currently sitting on a table, his feet on a bench as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs. "It is as Fire Shadow says. For Dark Guilds, they seemed to be rather weak. Only one of them was able to fight off any of my illusions, but then fell quickly to physical attacks. Gildarts was laughing the whole time, and Fire Shadow seemed to have no problems with his own targets."

Nodding as Mystogan spoke, Makarov rubbed at his chin as he stared at the floor. It was several seconds before he spoke again.

"I haven't spoken to any of the council members, but the original target guild was not known for it's strength, honestly. That's why we only sent eight members total to take care of them. They must have known we wouldn't try hard, however, hence setting up the ambush with three other guilds."

Makarov stood up straight and folded his hands behind his back, looking back and forth between his two subordinates. "Still, they were all recognized as Dark Guilds, and they all had a bounty. The original eight will get their mission pay and bounty for taking out their target, but you two and Gildarts will get the bounty for the other three."

"To be fair, old man, Erza got the final blow on the supposed leader of the group."

The Guild Master nodded. "Yes, so I've heard. She'll get a little slice of that pie, to be certain, but it was widely acknowledged that you three did the most work, therefore you get the most of the reward."

"Thank you, Master."

"Yep, thanks."

Makarov smiled at the both of them, before turning to Mystogan. "I know you had another mission you had taken before I grabbed you for this one, so you're free to go if there is nothing else?"

Shaking his head, Mystogan hopped off the table. Looking at Naruto, he nodded at the blond, who simply gave his fellow mage a simple wave. Turning to Makarov, he shook his head before replacing his headgear.

"No questions, Master. I shall see you when I return."

The two watched as Mystogan left the guild hall, the front door clicking closed behind him. Makarov let out a sigh before turning to look at the blond with an appraising eye.

"I'm still impressed. What kind of training do they have where you come from?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. "I've been trained for espionage and warfare since I was six years old, and have been practicing it in earnest since I was twelve. Over the last year I've actually been fighting in a war. I probably could have won without needing to rely on Kyuubi, but as I told you, I have to let him out sometimes for us to remain in synch if I should need to use some of my... more intense combat styles."

Makarov nodded several times. "Yes, yes... I remember. I'm surprised that a demon managed to not kill anyone. From what I know of demons, they usually don't care what they do to humans."

Naruto's eyes clouded over for a second before a small smile crawled over his face... likely some internal joke. "Kyuubi doesn't really care what he does to us 'fleshbags', as he puts it. But one thing a demon will always do is honor an agreement so long as I hold up my end of the bargain. I have several agreements with him."

"Nothing too compromising, I hope?"

Naruto shook his head. "We've come to understand after a lot of trials, errors, and... other things... that we are stronger working together than if one of us is constantly fighting for control over the other. He has agreed not to kill anyone that I don't want him to, or if we're not allowed to kill - so long as I don't complain about what he does to the ones he's injuring."

"So that explains the multitude of broken and fractured bones, bruises, and the like?"

Naruto nodded slowly, but said nothing further. Looking into the teen's eyes, Makarov understood that no further explanation was really needed. Things might happen in ways that neither one of them enjoy, but since none of the rules were broken, it was fine. All of the captured mages were still alive and capable of talking, which was all that was required.

"Well... since this mission went so well, I have no trouble allowing you to take S-Ranked missions from now on. That means you can go up to the second level of the guild hall when you wish, since that's where we keep the higher ranked missions."

Naruto briefly glanced up at the stairs that lead up to the second floor, then looked along the railing that marked the balcony that overlooked the ground floor. He'd been up there previously, since it was where Makarov's office was located, and it wasn't anything special. It held the high ranked missions, but the total area was only about one third that of the ground floor. It was a good place to get away from everyone else, if needed, but that was about all.

"What about Erza?"

Makarov grinned as he hopped up onto the bench, then sat down next to Naruto. "Your partner? Yes, she passed. My grandson, Laxus, was impressed with her ability to keep her cool in such a stressful situation. I think you two will make a superb team."

Chuckling, Naruto nodded. "Well, it was her idea. She can be the brains, I have no problem being the brawn."

The two sat in companionable silence for several moments before Makarov reached into a pocket and offered Naruto a sealed envelope.

"What's this?"

"The bounty I told you about. I already gave Mystogan his before the guild hall closed, but we were both interested to see your reaction, so I held onto yours. I also added a little something extra."

Curious, Naruto opened the envelope, for his eyes to bulge as he saw the decently sized stack of large denomination Jewel notes. Behind those, however, were a few sheets of folded paper. Pulling them out of the envelope, Naruto opened them, only for his eyes to bulge once again.

"These... these are seals! Well... notes about seals, anyway. I recognize some of these arrays. Where did you get this stuff? I've been looking everywhere!"

Makarov chuckled. "I called in a few favors, some people I know who are archivists in their spare time - a hobby, you might say. None of them could really understand much of this either, so I'm afraid you're out of luck as far as explanations go. They simply look like a bunch of scribbles with weird letters and numbers to me."

The blond shuffled through several of the sheets, though unfortunately understood very little about what they contained. Only one he recognized completely, it was very much like a containment scroll to hold supplies, with a few subtle differences.

"I guess that means I'll have to do some trial and error to figure out what this stuff means. Thanks, old man."

The Guild Master chuckled once again before sliding off the bench, and walked towards the back of the room where the stairs were. "I'm going to finish up a few things before I get some sleep. Good luck with those, and don't do anything that might endanger your life."

"Yep, sure thing." Naruto only answered halfheartedly, obviously engrossed in the seal notes, flipping through the pages looking for anything he could recognize.

"Stay as long as you like, just don't forget to lock up when you leave. Oh... and stop by sometime next week or so, I'll have a mission of my own for you."

"You got it old man. Sleep tight." Naruto waved to Makarov, who waved back before slowly climbing the stairs.

_Do you recognize any of these?_

**Two of them that I've seen before.**

_Can you explain how they work?_

**Hmph, I guess... the one on the second page is a suicide seal, it sucks everything within a certain radius around you into a vaccum and seals it into your now-dead body. It would be amusing to watch if I didn't need this body too.**

_I... I see. The second one?_

**The fourth page. How to put this so your feeble human mind won't suffer a meltdown. Hrm... I guess you could call it a 'sexual reinforcement seal'.**

_A uh... uhm... what?_

**'Sexual reinforcement seal'. It is made for the males of your species, it stimulates the chakra and blood flow in your... nether regions.**

_You're kidding. Where the hell have you seen this before?_

**Your village's Shodai Hokage was a strong man, indeed. Suffice it to say, his partner, my first container, was not satisfied with his performance elsewhere. Tch, you humans... us demons never have that problem. I suppose you can be thankful your pathetic, excuse-of-a-human father wasn't the same way in _that_ department, seeing as Kushina never complained to me about such things, thank Kami. One human lifetime was enough...**

As the Kyuubi continued rambling on, Naruto's head hit the table with a loud '_thunk_' that echoed clearly through the empty guild hall.

* * *

**A/N:** To start with, a simple reminder - It's several years before Fairy Tail canon, many people (Laxus, Mystogan) likely aren't acting in a manner you're familiar with. The shifts to their normal canon counterparts will be happening shortly. As a potential deflection to why it was Kyuubi doing all the fighting instead of Naruto - our favorite shinobi was still completely aware. In this particular 'stage', Naruto's body is essentially a puppet, and Kyuubi is pulling the strings. Naruto concentrates on using his chakra to insulate his body from the ill effects of the burn/regenerate/burn/regenerate effect that Kyuubi's chakra has on his system.

More about Kyuubi, Naruto, and what their exact dynamic is will be revealed in future chapters. Needless to say, Naruto still has plenty of aces up his sleeves, and plenty more strong enemies to fight - ones that will actually challenge him. If his entire tenure in Earthland was going to be a cakewalk, this fic would get boring fast.

_Kyuubi_ - I know some people don't like the whole Kyuubi-Naruto dynamic. Sorry about that, but it's part of how Naruto operates now. The Naruto in this story is different from how things will likely progress in canon. As I mentioned a few times now, Naruto was in a war for about a year - things change, including ideals. Do they like each other? No. Are they buddies? Hell no. They've come to an agreement that working together they are stronger than they would be apart, much in the same way Killer Bee works with his bijuu. Was it something that they resolved over a beer and a campfire? Hell no... it took a long time for them to come to terms with what their 'partnership' entailed. It's also part of the reason why Naruto can't summon the toads. The whole backstory will be explained later, if those of you who don't like talkative Kyuubi can stomach him enough to keep reading to that point. Sorry in advance if this kills any interest in continuing reading this particular fic.

_ANBU Naruto_ - I didn't really intend for it to be him clamoring to look like ANBU. It was more or less convenience... he wants to remain as anonymous as possible for now, and he happened upon an outfit that strongly reminded him of ANBU from back home. He put the two together, and figured why not. By completing it, in his mind, it's a sign of respect.

_Blacksmith's Accent_ - It was actually supposed to be more of a Southern USA accent, but it's really hard to gauge exactly how to write an accent. My grandfather was from the Mid-West/South (Tennessee - he's long since passed on) and I was trying to best remember how he talked and write it down. The word 'git', while meaning 'idiot' to Brits, is actually a mangled 'get' for US Southerners. No offense to any Southern US readers that might have a strong accent, of course.

_Erza's Armor_ - I know she uses Heart Kreuz armor, but that isn't the only maker of her armor, at least I wouldn't think so. Not only that, but her armor likely needs repairs, to be adjusted/fitted, etc... and who better to go to than someone you know well and trust?

_Mystogan_ - I'm sticking with 'Mystogan' for now, I haven't decided on if I should switch it over to MistGun. I'm more torn over this than other translations, because I haven't seen it officially translated yet. If someone knows of a place and can point me in that direction, that would be awesome. The wiki doesn't count.

_Team Name_ - Another thing I'm undecided on. I'll ask for recommendations if you have an idea, then perhaps post up a vote for the ones that grab my attention the most. I can't really say that I'd use it officially in any capacity, but the team name may get a cameo here and there. So if you've got an idea, let me know either in a review or PM. So far Team Maelstrom is already on the list.

_Shadow Clone Cliche's_ - I know, I know. Believe me do I know. Even I roll my eyes sometimes. They're just so... so... convenient! Really though, if he wasn't so stubborn about completing the ANBU outfit, he wouldn't be bothering to do anything with the blade. I don't think I'm going to even show his training, and he won't really use it for anything other than threats and finesse jobs anyway.

_Cliche's In Genera_l - *bangs head against keyboard* I know, yet again. I'll beg forgiveness. Sometimes to find an adequate bridge to move from one sequence for another, it's easy to fall back on fanfiction cliche's to move forward, or fill in a gap. I wanted Naruto to have the weapon to complete the outfit, I figured it would likely turn around and bite me in the ass with some reviews, and it did. I needed to segue into an Erza/Naruto conversation, which got flashbacked in this chapter. I do things for a reason, even if I grit my teeth while doing it. So yeah, I'll take my wet noodle lashings with dignity.

_Lucy and Lisanna _- I'm really trying to be nice, but read the notes for the first... oh... 7 chapters?

_Madara Redux_ - Nope. What, you want more? Too soon.

I just wanted to say that I'm impressed with the number of fans of this story who seem to have picked up reading Fairy Tail since they've read this fic. There's at least a handful after every chapter. It makes me proud to introduce new fans to a great manga.

Also, much thanks are due to my beta, Denim88, as always. I've been a little lax in thanking him, I think it's the first time since I posted this fic. Thanks, Denim.


	10. Sweaty Man In A Big Metal Suit

Chapter 10

"So, remind me again why I need to wear this?"

"You're my bodyguard. Your normal outfit is too well recognized by now. That's all."

Naruto grunted as he walked in the heavy plate mail outfit that his partner had ordered specifically for him. To make matters worse, she never even told him that she had accepted this job in the first place, nor that she was dragging him along to do nothing but be her silent walking statue.

Further adding insult to injury, it was a target capture mission that she could have easily done on her own, or let him finish in seconds if he was using his shinobi skills. She wouldn't have any of that, as usual.

Hell, in the past two years when they had done jobs together, he always seemed to cave to her demands eventually. Sometimes it was just the way she looked at him with her sensual eyes, or when her lips formed a slight pout. Occasionally, it may just have been the way she was standing while making her demands, perhaps leaning forward slightly in front of him as he was sitting down at a table, or even those few times that she had purposefully leaned against him while-

**Okay, that's enough. Stop now.**

_Oh... right. On a mission. Again._

**Very good. You're still whipped, even worse than before.**

_Well, we have been partners for two years now. I know everything about her, she knows everything about me, we've done tons of missions together..._

**She just looks like a regular human female to me, so your petty reasoning holds no weight. She is another human that apparently has my container on a leash, which humiliates me to no end, as I have stated before on several occasions. Yet you still don't want to tell her how you feel about her, or how you claim to feel. Even if I don't really care one way or the other about your feelings, I think you're a fool.**

_I don't want to-_

**Get attached. I know. Lame excuse. Anything you do with her would be better than having to be aware of you having a grand old time as you look at those magazines an-**

_Okay, end of conversation right there. I'm not discussing anything of that nature with my own personal demon, thank you very much._

**Why not? I'm sure I can offer you some... unique insights.**

_Thanks, but no thanks. Seriously._

A tapping on the side of the full helm he was wearing caused Naruto to snap awake from his brief lapse in awareness. "Huh?"

He barely heard the muffled sigh from somewhere to his left side. "Talking to your friend again?"

"I wouldn't call him my friend, but yes, he was pretty much ranting at me for a bit."

"Ah. Well, you need to be ready. We're almost at the area for the meeting. Just make sure no one interferes as I make our target submit."

"Yes, boss."

Erza Scarlet simply 'hmm'-ed in response, either agreeing with his response or simply choosing to ignore it as they approached a large guarded archway. The redhead started walking a little faster, moving from beside him to slightly in front of him as she hailed the two men standing by the archway before them.

Both immediately moved their hands to swords attached to their belts as they took a step forward, one of them ordered the two newcomers to halt.

"What business do you have here?"

Erza was dressed in what she considered suitable business attire - a long skirt, pale blouse and a vest that was unbuttoned. Placing one hand on her hip, she stopped walking and waved her hand about in the air.

"Your boss didn't tell you about our meeting? I'm a very influential woman, you know, and when I'm kept waiting things can go very, very badly." As if to drive the point home, Erza jerked a thumb backwards towards where Naruto was lumbering up behind her in his big metal suit. Thankfully, no one would be able to see the grimace that was currently on his face. As intimidating as his suit might appear from the outside, inside he was sweating bullets and struggling to keep from falling over. Normally he would have used his chakra, or_ magic power_, to maintain his balance, but Erza requested that he didn't so as to not draw any extra attention to them.

"M-Madame Esmerelda? P-Please, pardon us for being rude; we heard you were coming but I had no idea... Right this way - please, please, follow me!" One of the guards immediately began bowing slightly in an apologetic manner, then proceeded to turn around as he aggressively waved for Erza to follow him through the archway.

Erza wasted no time in following the man, passing the second guard with her nose held high in the air. Chuckling internally at the look of confusion the second guard was giving her, Naruto decided to make some noise - the metal joints on his suit clinking together as he moved towards the arch.

Stopping in front of the other guard, Naruto tried his best to act intimidating, though it probably didn't look like much. He had stopped growing taller sometime last year around when he turned eighteen, putting his height right at an even six feet, making him one of the taller people in Fairy Tail. Several like Elfman, Gildarts, Bixlow, and Laxus were still taller than him, Gildarts and Elfman by a large margin. The armor added another couple inches to his height, however, making him tower over most people he encountered in public. It also made him stand out like a sore thumb, which was what Erza must have wanted to keep the attention off of her.

The second guard had finally turned around to look at Naruto in his armor, and the blond easily noticed the look of hesitation that the guard gave him through is visor. Mumbling for Naruto to follow, he started moving through the archway.

The room beyond the arch wasn't much, there were a few crates stacked in a corner, and a few empty display cabinets along the wall to his right. There was a wooden door on the wall across from where they entered the room via the arch, where Erza was currently in some hushed discussion with another man. He noticed as she gestured in his direction a few times, and the second man glanced towards him, then went wide-eyed as he did a double-take.

That must have settled whatever troubles Erza was having, as the second man immediately ushered her into the room behind the door, and Naruto heard it click closed behind her. A while ago he may have been worried about letting her out of his sight, but she seemed to be rather confident about what they were up against, so he decided to trust her.

"S-So, um... have you w-worked for Madame Esmerelda long?"

Naruto turned his head slightly, a scratching noise reverberating through his ears as the metal from his helmet rubbed slightly against his pauldrons. "About two years."

"I see. Do you like it? I've... I've heard she's very strict."

Naruto chuckled, and saw the guard look up towards his helmet, blinking owlishly. Madame Esmerelda was actually a cover identity that Erza had been using for the past two years or so for some of the missions she took. Most of the time she went by herself, but occasionally Naruto would remain hidden nearby, just in case. So far he'd never needed to intervene, but she surprised him this time by including him completely in her operation. When he asked her why, she simply deflected the question, and he hadn't tried to ask again since.

"I haven't had any issues with her. She can be strict, but that is to be expected from any boss that wants to maintain a smooth operation."

"Oh... well, um... do you know if she's hiring?"

This time Naruto simply blinked from behind his helmet's mask. Erza had never really told him how she ran her operation, and he had never really pressed her for details. If she needed any help, then he'd be happy to assist her if it was ever requested.

"I have no idea. But you can ask her when she returns in a moment."

The guard seemed to fidget nervously for a moment, before nodding his head slowly and turning his attention back towards the door. It wasn't until the guard looked away that Naruto noticed just how much taller he actually was compared to the guard. Judging from the sound of his voice, plus his height... this guard was likely a young teenager. Why was he a guard for a criminal gang?

Naruto was about to ask how old the guard was, but a few loud shouts and a crashing noise from behind the door distracted him. The first guard from earlier looked startled, and immediately turned to open the door. Noticing the young man next to him reach to grab his sword and move towards the door as well, the blond placed a metal-armored hand on the boy's shoulder, stopping him. The guard turned to look at him again, eyes wide, likely panicked.

"If you want to ask Madame Esmerelda for work, I suggest you leave your sword alone and stand here next to me."

Looking towards the door once again, the young man slowly relaxed and nodded. It was good that he did, for just then the first guard opened the door, only to be sent flying backwards as the man who entered the room before with Erza was sent crashing into him. Both men landed in an unconscious heap in the middle of the room.

Not even a minute later, Erza left the room, her business suit still looking impeccable, only a few strands of her red hair were out of place to show that she had exerted any effort at all. She had a large piece of rope wound tightly in her hand, and as she walked further into the room, a tightly bound and unconscious older man was being dragged along the floor behind her.

"B-Boss? What's... going on?"

The second guard still hadn't moved from next to Naruto, and that was likely the only thing that kept Erza from immediately knocking him out. She shot the guard a look, who visibly flinched, then looked towards Naruto, who simply sent her a small nod.

Erza sighed, handing the rope to Naruto, who slowly reached for and grabbed it.

"Well, someone put a bounty on the head of your boss because he did some things he shouldn't have done. They want him alive, so it's probably the authorities that placed the bounty."

"B-But... oh... geez..." The young man sighed and let his shoulders slump.

Erza had both hands on her hips now, and was staring at the guard intently. "What is your name?"

The guard immediately shot upright, standing rigid. "M-my name? Trevor Rayn, miss!"

Erza nodded slowly, waiting for the young man to continue. When he didn't, Naruto tried to poke the kid with a finger of his metal gauntlet, but pushed a little hard, causing the kid to take a couple steps backward and look at him with surprise.

"Weren't you going to ask her something?"

Erza turned and looked at Naruto, one eyebrow raised quizzically, as Trevor began to stutter through an explanation.

"W-well I was going t-to, but since she was c-coming after the person I worked for, I d-don't... I don't see why she would-"

"Trevor!"

The young teen immediately went rigid again, looking at Erza with wide eyes.

"If you grow up and remain like this you will never get anywhere with your life. If you want something, you must be firm and declare what it is. If you're denied, find another way if you can. If not, move on, and don't dawdle. Now, what do you want?"

"I-I was going to ask you for a job, Madame Esmerelda."

"I see." Erza subtly turned her head to look at Naruto from the corner of her eye. He didn't know if she would notice, but Naruto subtly nodded his helmeted head. Immediately after, Erza reached into the pocket of her vest, and pulled out a piece of paper with something written on it.

"This is my business card. Can you get to this location in Magnolia Town in three days?"

The teen quickly grabbed the paper and looked it over, nodding slowly. "I shouldn't have a problem. I... I just have to let my older sister know. She works two jobs to help care for our sick mother."

Erza's hard facade immediately softened for a brief moment before it returned. "I see. If I don't see you in three days, I will send my partner here to come back here to meet you. Understood?"

"Yes! Thank you!" The teen gave them both a brilliant smile, then promptly turned on his heel and bolted back through the archway. The partners watched him until he disappeared, then Erza turned to Naruto.

"Let's go drop this bounty off at the nearest constable's station, then head home. Sound good?"

Naruto nodded, hoisting the unconscious target over his metal clad shoulder. Between the weight of the armor and the man he was carrying, the added weight felt like he was training with Gai and Lee all over again...

"Good, let's get going then. I'm really hungry too, we should get something to eat."

* * *

Naruto sighed as he finished placing the last piece of armor into one of his newest seals that he was able to make work successfully. He didn't think it was anything overly complicated, but many others in Fairy Tail who saw it in action thought it was incredible; even Erza had been wowed.

The scroll had every piece of the armor sealed into a specific location on the rough parchment. When he placed chakra from specific gates of his body into the scroll, it unlocked the armor sealed into that part of the scroll and automatically released it onto his body. It was made to use with his normal Fire Shadow gear, but it had proved useful for this mission as well.

Hearing the crunch of dry leaves underfoot as Erza approached, Naruto locked the scroll with a simple coded seal, then promptly rolled the scroll back up. As he picked up the rolled scroll, he felt a cool, wet cloth press itself against the back of his neck.

Startled, he turned his head slightly, but Erza was just out of his line of sight. Standing up, he began to turn around, but one of her hands held his shoulder so that he kept his back to her. He felt as Erza moved the cool compress around the back of his neck, and over his cheeks, but she still didn't move in front of him. After sitting in that heavy metal suit for hours, the cool water from the cloth felt wonderful against his skin. Eventually she let the cloth rest back against his neck, and slowly snaked her arms around his waist, pressing her chest and face against his sweat-drenched back.

"I'm sorry."

It was barely murmured loud enough for him to hear, with her mouth pressed slightly against his back, but with his shinobi-enhanced hearing, he was able to pick it up. After she said it, Erza turned her head to the side, pressing the her cheek and face against his back. Apparently all the sweat didn't bother her. While they'd sparred plenty over the past two years and had seen each other sweaty and torn up before, this was the most _intimate_ either of them had ever been while in said condition. Not only that, but the fact that she wasn't wearing her typical armor and only had a simple shirt on as she pressed against him definitely wasn't helping the blond keep his focus.

"Sorry for what?"

He felt her chest rumble as she laughed against his back, and she squeezed her arms around his waist. "Don't play dumb, it isn't like you. I know you can be an airhead about some things, but this isn't one of them. You've barely said a word to me since you climbed into that suit like I asked, and the few things you have said have sounded sarcastic. Did it bother you that much?"

Naruto sighed, shaking his head slightly so as to not dislodge the cloth from around his neck. "I think I'm just confused. I only had a vague idea as to how you were handling these bounty missions since I didn't do much more than hide as backup in case you needed it. But you were always successful so I didn't feel the need to ask. Now, all of a sudden, you ask me to get in a big heavy suit of armor and didn't tell me why. I think I had the right to be a little miffed."

He felt as Erza nodded slowly against his back. "You're absolutely right. I was just trying to get in character as Esmerelda. As for the metal suit... I... well..."

Erza trailed off without finishing, which slightly worried Naruto. The last time he had seen or heard her this uncertain about anything was around the time when he first arrived two years ago, at an old party.

"Well what? If you want me to understand, you can't stop there."

"I know... it was just the only thing I could think of on short notice. I wanted you to be there, so I could see you, instead of you hiding somewhere in the background. Your Fire Shadow outfit is too well known, and if you were seen as Fire Shadow with Madame Esmerelda, people would start asking questions and I'd have a hard time coming up with excuses."

"You could have told me from the beginning. I could have found another disguise."

"I know... I know..." Erza squeezed his waist again, and pressed herself harder against his back. As a result, Naruto was finding it increasingly hard to keep his composure. "I know we're partners, and when I was younger... I always thought you were so strong. I wanted to prove myself to you. You've always been wonderful as my partner, but when we first started I felt like I was holding you back. This was supposed to be my way of proving that I was capable of being strong too."

"You didn't need to prove yourself to me. I've always believed in you."

Her grip slowly relaxed on him, as if a great amount of tension was gradually flowing out of her. "I've always prided myself on being strong. I was just being selfish, and I know that I still am by what I asked you to do. That's why I said I was sorry."

"Well, you're forgiven. Just remember, we're partners. If you need me for anything, don't be afraid to ask. Just give me a little more warning next time, okay?"

Once again Naruto felt Erza nod against his back, then she squeezed her arms around his waist one more time before releasing him. He grabbed at the cloth around his neck as he turned around, only to see that Erza had turned away from him this time, and was furiously wiping at one side of her face with her left hand.

"Erza?"

"It's... nothing. I just turned too fast and got something in my eye."

"If you say so. By the way, are you really going to hire that kid from earlier?"

Erza turned her head so that Naruto could see the profile of the right side of her face, she was looking at him through the corner of her eye.

"Well, you did nod at me, so I thought it would be a good idea. You know that small apartment I bought from you when you moved into that workshop you had built in the outskirts?"

"Yeah?"

Erza ran her hands through her hair as she talked, "Well, I converted it into a small kind of office. If he'll accept, it needs to be cleaned up. We've been doing so many missions, and I've been so busy training that I haven't had time to organize everything like I should have."

"So... slave labor?"

Erza turned towards him completely this time, scowling lightly as she punched at his arm. "No, I'm going to pay him."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at her mock-pout. "I know. I was just kidding. I'm your only slave."

What happened next was so quick, Naruto wasn't sure it really happened. Erza moved quickly, pressed her lips against his cheek briefly, then pulled away and started walking towards their destination. It took a few seconds for Naruto to focus and gain his bearings before he started chasing after the redhead.

"H-Hey, Erza?"

"Hmm?" She didn't turn to look back at him, and kept walking, but tilted her head to the side slightly to show that she heard him.

"What was that?"

She did turn her head enough his time to see that her eyebrow was raised sharply. "It was a kiss. Do I need to explain its function to you?"

"Well... no, but I was just curious as to why you gave me one."

Erza turned her head forward again, and did not answer, instead choosing to pick up her pace slightly.

"H-Hey! Erza, come on! You can tell me!"

"If you ever want another one in the future, you'll follow me and stop asking about it."

Blinking for a moment, Naruto chuckled and shook his head, deciding to follow her advice and keep quiet. Another kiss would be something to look forward to. Much to his surprise, Kyuubi decided to keep his silence on the matter, further benefiting his disposition.

Meanwhile, Erza started walking even faster still, determined to keep Naruto behind her so that he wouldn't see her bright red face. It was hard to keep her usual stoic demeanor when her heart was beating a mile a minute, not that she'd ever tell that to anyone.

* * *

"Maaaan, it's so boring today. There's nothing to do."

"Aye..."

"Oh, stop it you two. There were still plenty of jobs left on the board, last I looked."

Natsu rolled his eyes as he leaned back against the large tree outside of the guild hall. "Yeah, I know there were. But they're all boring ones that Naruto-nii usually does with one of his clones when he needs extra change. I need something that brings me excitement, something that I can test my new training on!"

Lisanna couldn't stop herself from rubbing her temples as she sighed. His 'new training' mostly consisted of Naruto figuring out new ways of beating Natsu into the dirt while the dragonslayer tried to find ways around it and land a hit on his trainer for a change. Naruto had tried teaching Natsu various techniques the normal way... but unless Natsu was actually fighting something, he didn't really grasp what Naruto was trying to show him.

At least whenever he trained with Naruto, he tended to keep himself out of trouble and not annoy other members with fight requests. For some reason, though, he and Gray never got along, and would fight whenever and wherever, regardless.

"Hey, I know! Lisanna, go have your sister get us one of those S-Ranked missions!"

Lisanna promptly whacked Natsu on the top of his head with her fist.

"Ow!"

"You idiot! You know we'll get in trouble if we take an S-Ranked mission when we aren't approved! We'd have to be invited, and I don't think Mirajane would risk bringing you along. Naruto-niisan and Erza have already told you no, and until he does, Mirajane won't either."

"Awww, but why? I'm a good fighter!"

"Yeah, Natsu really knows how to kick ass! Well... his own ass, anyway."

"Hey!"

Lisanna couldn't help but chuckle at how Happy always managed to distract Natsu, and it was typically unintentional. That thought aside, she had considered telling Natsu on several occasions that Mirajane had taken her on a few S-Ranked missions so far as support, but supposedly they were easier than typical missions of their caliber. Regardless, Natsu was a front line fighter type, and she knew deep down that he really wasn't ready for those kind of missions.

"Yo!"

Startled from her musings and tuning out Happy and Natsu's small bickering session, Lisanna turned to see Naruto giving them a wave with a big smile on his face as he walked down the nearby path, Erza following a couple steps behind him.

"Naruto-niisan! Welcome back!"

Lisanna promptly launched herself and crashed into Naruto, hugging him, while he laughed a little and whirled her around a couple times as she squealed. Setting her back down, he turned to greet Natsu and Happy, the latter perching himself on top of Naruto's head.

Lisanna moved over to Erza, who was watching Naruto and Natsu interact with a serene smile.

"Erza?"

The redhead promptly shifted her focus to the youngest member of the Take Over Trio. "Hmm?"

"How did it go? Did you manage to..." Lisanna's voice trailed off, but she was sure that she got her point across when Erza's gaze returned to Naruto, who currently had Natsu in some sort of strange headlock as Happy cheered them on.

"I... no, not really. It just didn't feel right after... how selfish I've been."

"Huh? But I thought you wanted to before my sister did anyth-"

Erza cut her off by raising her hand. "I did, and still do. But I started thinking, and we had a talk. I didn't want to dump my feelings on him. I'll... I'll tell him for real, later. I gave him a hint, and he didn't get upset, so I think he feels the same way. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The redhead promptly walked past Lisanna and over to Naruto, who now had Natsu under one of his feet on the ground as Happy was laughing like crazy. Erza placed her hand gently on Naruto's back, and said something to him that Lisanna couldn't hear. He smiled and nodded at her, then she walked beyond the group, towards the guild hall.

"Hey! Lemme up, Naruto-nii! You win this round!"

Chuckling, Naruto lifted his foot from Natsu's back, and the pink-haired teen quickly scrambled to his feet.

"So what is our score now?"

"Bah! I stopped keeping track."

"Why? I thought it would be another good lesson for you."

"The score is Naruto sixty-three, Natsu zero. Natsu can't count that high."

The dragonslayer shot Happy a betrayed look as Naruto tried to stifle his own chuckles. Lisanna walked back towards them and was about to defend Natsu when another voice spoke before she could say anything.

"Ah! There you are, Lisanna."

The group all looked towards the voice, one which they all recognized.

"Hey Mirajane. Looking good, as always. Good to see you too, Elfman."

Natsu and Lisanna shot Naruto a look as Mirajane gave Naruto a small smile and blushed cutely. "Such a charmer, Naruto-kun. Thank you." Elfman didn't say anything in reply, settling for giving Naruto a small nod.

Mirajane didn't focus on Naruto for long, however, as she quickly moved her gaze back to her youngest sibling. "Lisanna, we have an S-Ranked mission. I'd like you to come with Elfman and I for support."

"Now?"

Mirajane nodded, and Lisanna turned towards Natsu in an apologetic manner, only to see him staring at Mirajane with stars in his eyes.

"Oh! Can you guys take me too? Please? I'm good fighter! Do you need me to beat anything up?"

An emotion flickered across Mirajane's face for a moment. Lisanna swore she saw her glance at Naruto quickly before shaking her head negatively.

"I'm sorry Natsu. I'm sure Lisanna would like for you to come along as well, but you're not prepared for a mission like this. I'm only asking Lisanna to come because she has healing magic, but I won't let her get anywhere near any fights."

"Ahhh, that sucks." Natsu huffed and walked back towards the tree he was leaning against previously, and sat down near it once again. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back and closed his eyes, a frown on his face.

Elfman, who had been silent the entire time so far, decided to speak up, "Natsu, it's manly to sit out missions that are above your level. This is one of those missions, so don't feel like you're any less of a man."

Natsu grimaced, but didn't say anything further. Happy lifted off from Naruto's head and landed in Natsu's lap, but the dragonslayer remained still.

"Awww, pouting doesn't suit you. We'll be back before you know it, and Happy will be here to keep you company. Don't miss me too much, okay?"

Lisanna quickly moved over to Natsu and gave him a brief kiss on his cheek, to which he opened one eye and grumbled something that likely only Happy and Lisanna heard, as they both smiled. She pulled Happy up into a brief hug before nodding and walking away, then proceeded to give Naruto another quick hug, to which he chuckled and tousled her short hair.

Pushing away from Naruto with a pout, Lisanna ran her hands back through her hair, trying to fix it. "Arg! Naruto-niisan, I've told you not to do that!"

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah, whatever. Be safe out there, okay?"

"Of course!" Lisanna winked and stuck her tongue out at him briefly. "My brother and sister will protect me. There's nothing to worry about!"

Naruto nodded at her as she turned and ran over to Mirajane and Elfman, who both gave Naruto waves of their own as they all began filing out of the area towards where their destination led them.

"Bah, this sucks, Happy. Let's go fishing or something. I need to forget about all this."

"Aye!"

Turning his head, Naruto watched as Natsu climbed to his feet, and began walking towards where Naruto knew his favorite river outside of Magnolia Town was. Almost as an afterthought, Natsu decided to look back over his shoulder and wave goodbye to Naruto, Happy almost immediately doing the same.

Naruto waved back, not that either of them would notice it, and watched them until they passed behind another building and he could no longer see them. Slowly, Naruto turned his head and let his eyes wander up the large tree nearby, staring at a particularly dense spot of leaves.

"It's not like you to hide yourself, old man. Is something going on?"

There was a faint chuckle to be heard, followed by a very short white-haired man jumping out of the tree, only to land at the base of the trunk, then promptly sit down where Natsu once was.

"You were able to sense me. Not bad. I thought I was good at suppressing my powers to a large extent."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest, giving his guild master a small grin. "You are. I'm just better when it comes to detection."

Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, leaned back against the trunk of the tree and gave Naruto one of his heartier laughs. If it wasn't for his diminutive stature, Makarov was almost a carbon copy of his old Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. In moments like this, the similarities hit him with intense waves of nostalgia.

"You are very good, my young friend, I'll give you that. In the past two years with us, you've done many a good deed. I was just waiting for everyone else to depart so I could talk to you in a more private setting, that's all. Nothing serious."

Shrugging, Naruto walked over towards the tree and leaned his shoulder against the rough bark, but remained standing next to the guild master. Searching through the pockets of his vest, Makarov proceeded to hand Naruto a thick envelope with the Fairy Tail insignia stamped on it.

"This is just a personal request from me, I need you to deliver these notes to a friend of mine in a town on the southeastern end of Fiore."

Naruto grabbed the envelope from Makarov, noting that it was held closed by a simple locking seal. "Sure thing. I just need to go find Erza and let her know I'll be gone for a little bit."

Makarov waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Don't worry about it. She reported in to me and I told her that I'd be borrowing your services for a week or two, if it even takes that long. She was fine with it, apparently she has some other things to take care of before she starts taking missions again."

"Yeah, she wanted me to meet up with a new... uhm, employee of hers in a few days if they can't make it to a meeting spot here in town. Did she tell you about that?"

Makarov glanced up at Naruto with raised eyebrows. "No... but we only chatted in passing, so maybe she'll explain more later. Since she didn't mention it, it's likely she forgot what she asked you to do."

Naruto pursed his lips briefly, then slowly nodded. Standing up straight and moving away from the tree, he pocketed the envelope. "Is there anything else I need to know before I leave?"

Makarov tapped his chin for a second. "I doubt it will take you long to arrive there. This friend I mentioned is well versed in seals. The reason I didn't tell you about him earlier is because he's somewhat of an odd fellow, and will only talk about seals to those who are already familiar with them. I feel confident in your seal abilities now that I've seen them in action, and you should be able to understand what my friend has to say."

"Okay... thanks. Is that why you told Erza I would be gone for a few weeks?"

"Part of the reason. The second bit is a little more serious."

At this, Naruto's demeanor changed immediately, into what Erza had taken to calling 'mission mode'. He strongly resembled a soldier taking orders from a superior, and always gave them an unflinching stare.

"You're aware that Mirajane and her siblings just went on an S-Ranked mission. While I am confident in their abilities, I'm worried that Elfman in particular might try to do... more than he should. Mirajane grabbed the mission for them to stop The Beast. It's been rampaging near towns where I'm sending you. It hasn't attacked yet, but most of the towns in the area fear it will soon, hence the bounty that was placed on it."

"It's just called The Beast? That's it?"

Makarov couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes. That's it. Now - you're aware of Elfman's limitations with his abilities, right?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "For some reason he can't seem to do the full take over like his sisters can. I know it upsets him, but he won't take any advice from anyone."

"Correct. As his take over ability revolves around some of the more... wild monsters that are out there, I fear that he may try to perform his technique on The Beast. While it would be an enormous boost to his powers, he does not have the control that Mirajane does over her Satan Soul, nor what Lisanna can do with her more support-oriented take overs."

"So you want me to be backup?"

Shaking his head, Makarov gave Naruto a steely gaze. "I want you to just observe. Only interfere if it seems like things will get out of control. I don't want my guild members to think that I'm babying them, but on the same note, I don't want to lose any of them to unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully you'll never need to make an appearance."

Sighing, Naruto nodded. He was on good terms with all three of the Take Over Trio, but most members of any guild got upset if they felt someone else was intruding on their mission unnecessarily. Mirajane would probably just shrug it off if he meddled, but Lisanna would be pouting about it for a while before forgiving him, and if she was upset, Natsu and Happy would be as well. Elfman, however...

"Don't worry too much about it. If you have to interfere and it upsets them, I'll take the blame. I'm sending you, after all."

"I gotcha. I just don't want anyone to be blamed for anything."

Chuckling, Makarov slowly climbed back to his feet. "Like I said, don't worry about it. Just get on your way, you'll likely want to be done with my friend before you have to monitor the Trio. They'll likely arrive in a week."

"Got it. See ya, Master."

With a wave, Naruto promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Good luck, kid. Hopefully you won't need it."

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

_Mage Council Classification:_ AA-Rank. S-Rank unofficially, status update on hold by request of Guild Master Makarov Dreyar  
_Notes:_ Naruto Uzumaki is an extremely unique mage in that he is incredibly powerful, yet humble about his abilities. He is always quick to assist any mage that may need help, regardless if they are in Fairy Tail or any other legal guild. Shows no remorse when dealing with members of Dark Guilds, and has collected many bounties. Naruto has many different skill sets, of which I will explain as I hear of his using them. At each of these stages, he shows a large jump in magical power. He is currently part of a long-term mission that I have asked him to have a large part in, to which he reluctantly agreed. This mission is currently under review by the veteran members of the council in Era, pending review. _See Guild Archives, Section XXII, Row VI 'Release and Vanquish' for more information._

_Stage Zero:_ At this stage, Naruto relies mostly on his martial combat skills, preferring to use his fists, feet, kunai knives, shuriken, and short sword as his primary weapons. For many of his missions, he does not need to go beyond these skills.  
_Stage One:_ Naruto starts using some of his magical powers. While many of the techniques he uses may be weaker than those of a mage who specialize in certain areas, his overall grasp of manipulating different areas of nature is astounding. From fireballs, to dragons made of water, to large gusts of wind, he has quite an arsenal.  
_Stage Two:_ At this point, Naruto makes use of the demon he has sealed inside of himself. Kyuubi no Youko, the Guardian of the Ninth Circle of the Abyss... quite often regarded as the King of the Abyss. Naruto seems to be unaware of why we refer to Kyuubi as such, and Kyuubi himself seems to be reluctant to discuss things of such a nature with his 'container', or such is what Naruto claims. Naruto often lets Kyuubi take control of his body at this point, becoming nothing more than a puppet as he lets the Kyuubi work. Naruto is fully conscious and able to take control at any time should he need to, so far he claims Kyuubi has upheld his end of the bargain and never gone beyond the pre-stated rules. While it may sound odd that a human trusts a demon, Naruto seems to trust Kyuubi, even though both of them will be quick to state that they hate each other.  
_Stage Three:_ No one has yet seen this stage, though Naruto has stated it will likely place him above all but the most powerful mages in Earthland. Not only that, but he claims to have stages beyond it that he has used in his homeland, but has not had a reason to use here. His second stage is already incredibly powerful, I'm almost afraid to witness what may lay beyond.

_Member Since:_ October 21st, 782 (2 years, 1 month, 1 week, 3 days)  
Completed Solo Missions: 552  
Completed Team Missions: 169  
Completed S-Rank Missions: 23  
Completed SS-Rank Missions: 2

_Reward to Date:_ 2,447,983,721 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** Took a little longer to get this one out. Was arguing with myself if I wanted to continue in the past a bit or start moving forward. Decided to start moving forward, so as was hopefully noticed, 2 years have passed. I plan to get through this in a chapter or two, then move on to canon Fairy Tail. Beyond canon, I have a few chapters planned out with a surprising twist and a big bang conclusion. I also have a sequel planned... so if you're interested you should start reading another manga, which I will likely announce as this one starts closing in on the ending. It does have mages in it, too.

There is a poll posted on my profile page, regarding team names. There are a lot to choose from, so everyone can choose their two top favorites. To be honest, the name will not have much of an impact on the story as a whole, other than perhaps a handful of scenes where the name is acknowledged or referenced. (It may not have appeared yet on my profile page if it hasn't updated on the server.)

Review answers... I'll try to keep them as succinct as possible. There were a LOT of reviews. Thank you to everyone who gave me your thoughts and opinions.

_Guild Card Updates_ - They will happen every two chapters. After every chapter would be overkill, and I decided two chapters was enough as to not make it too infrequent. Otherwise I might also have gotten lazy and not bothered to update it much at all.

_Shodai Hokage Death_ - Sexual Exhaustion? Doubtful, but highly amusing when you add another reviewers comment about him being a master of 'Wood' ninjutsu. I laughed my ass off for a long time. Most likely reason of his death was in a war, just like the Nindaime.

_Sage Mode_ - Probably won't be seen for a few more chapters yet, keep your eyes peeled.

_Early Morning Updates_ - Time doesn't really hold a meaning for me, other than when I have to be at work. Otherwise, I can post at 4am EST, and not bat an eyelash.

_Denim88 Beta_ - Yep, he's awesome. Always less than a 24-hour turnaround too. Couldn't ask for a more reliable beta, really. Got a sharp eye, too.

_Mystogan vs MistGun Redux_ - Yeah, sticking with Mystogan. It's the official version of it in the manga, verified it myself in my bookstore. Thanks to all who told me where to look to find it. Totally forgot that Mystogan had an early cameo.

_Kyuubi's Chakra _- Yes, Naruto has total control of Kyuubi's chakra. But he lets Kyuubi out to have some fun now and then. Why? You'll have to wait to find out, sorry.

_Going Home Conflicts_ - Naruto will -always- want to go back to the Elemental Nations. As time goes by, however, the urgency dies down a bit, but his resolve to find a way back never disappears.

_Erza's Conflicts_ - She'll want him to what he wants to do... this chapter may have offered a bit of insight into Erza's already growing inner turmoil. She's already fashioned a brave front in 'Esmerelda', and when talking to Trevor vs. talking to Naruto, she suffered from 'do as I say but not as I do'. I wonder how many people noticed that...

_No Toads_ - Yes, why he can't will be explained. Not for a little while yet, but it will be explored with a flashback. As for if he can still use it, the answer is yes, but I can't spoil and say how. Some clever people may have already figured it out after piecing a few of my older comments together.

_'Yami' Naruto_ - Yes.

_Showing Registration_ - I hadn't really thought about it much. Makarov has his own plans which Naruto has agreed to, so I don't think that's really a scene I could implement successfully. Suffice it to say that any appearance by the Fire Shadow in Era would have a lot of people scrambling to find out why he's there.

_Elemental Country Time Pass_ - Originally I was thinking about having Naruto travel into the future, but decided against that, because Time Travel seems to be done a bit more often than the dimensional stuff. I wanted Naruto's driving force for him to be 'find a way home', and that has a little more 'oomph' when he knows it's only a dimension-hop away, without having to worry about all that time paradox stuff.

_New Chapter Soon_ - Heh, **Nawaki no Shinobi** - I hope that me posting this within a half an hour of your review has you pumping your fist in the air in triumph?


	11. No Beauty To Tame This Beast

Chapter 11

Naruto scratched at the side of his head as he looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, then back up at the address on the door in front of him. Since it matched, he proceeded to stuff the paper in one of his pockets, then knocked on the door a few times.

His trip had been uneventful, there wasn't much to look at that he hadn't seen before, especially when traveling near train tracks. Often times he got a kick out of running alongside a train going at full speed, waving at passengers who were just staring at him wide-eyed and mouths agape. Then he would take off running faster than the train itself, and arrive at his final destination hours, and sometimes even days beforehand.

Even though he hadn't had the time to look at Weekly Sorcerer Magazine lately, his journalist friend Claire had mentioned that they were running a 'Fire Shadow Train Sightings' tally just for fun. Supposedly it was a big hit, and many train companies had stated that train ridership had actually gone up a decent amount over the last year; they believed it was because of those who wanted to glimpse at Fire Shadow running alongside them.

Smiling slightly, Naruto raised his hand to knock on the door again, but hearing several latches on the other side caused him to still his fist. Lowering his hand and waiting patiently, several more latches were undone, then the door was cracked open slightly. Naruto saw an elderly man from behind the portion that was open, one with a long beard that came down to his stomach... though the man didn't seem to be a whole lot taller than Makarov, so that wasn't saying much.

"Ehhh? Who are you? Whaddaya want?"

"I came here from Magnolia Town. Makarov Dreyar asked me to deliver a small package to you." Naruto grabbed the envelope from one of the pockets on his new Jounin vest, showing the Fairy Tail Insignia that was on one side of it to the elderly man.

The vest Naruto wore was mostly a copy of his original one from Konoha, with a few adjustments. Instead of the spiral on the back, he had the tailor alter it to be a Fairy Tail symbol. There was no chakra-resistant material in it either, it was now just a simple vest with a lot of pockets.

He only wore his Fire Shadow gear now when he was on missions. Fire Shadow was the alias that had gotten all the attention, just as he had hoped. Among friends in the guild and a few people outside of it, he was Naruto, and could move around uninhibited. He had no problems wearing his new vest in pubic either, most people likely assumed it was an article of fan memorabilia, most guilds sold such items.

"Ehhhh, Makarov, huh? It's been a while since I've heard anything from him. I wonder what he wants this time." The man moved away from the opening, and Naruto noticed as the last of the lock-chains holding the door in place fell away. Shortly after, the door opened completely, and the elderly man beckoned Naruto inside.

Nodding, Naruto stepped inside and looked around the entrance. There wasn't much to look at, a few random pictures of various nature scenes and a grandfather clock, some stairs leading up, and an open arch leading to another room at the end of a short hallway. Turning around, the blond observed as the man expertly reattached all the bolts that he had previously undone.

When finished, the elderly man didn't say anything more, but simply beckoned again for Naruto to follow him through the open doorway. Falling into step behind the man, Naruto silently observed as he moved with a bit of a limp, but it didn't appear to impede his movement to any large degree.

The room through the open doorway was apparently the kitchen, as it had all the standard fare that one would expect in such a room. The man gestured to the table, and Naruto swiftly moved over to it, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He set the envelope down on the table, watching as the gray haired man walked over to a nearby counter.

"Can I getcha something to drink? Water? Tea?"

"Water is fine. Thanks mister..."

"Huh? Oh..." The old man chuckled as he poured some water into a cup. "You can call me Seth. Everyone else does. It's an alias, but you'd know all about those, wouldn'tcha... Fire Shadow?"

Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment, then immediately narrowed. "How did-"

Seth merely chuckled as he walked over to the table, halting Naruto's question in its tracks. Shaking his head, the old man clucked his tongue as he set the glass of water down near Naruto, then grabbed the envelope and looked it over.

Chuckling again, he handed the envelope back to Naruto. "Open it, and I'll answer any question you have."

Eyebrow arched in curiosity, Naruto accepted the envelope once again. Focusing chakra into his hand and muttering a few words, he touched the seal that was on the back of the envelope. It flashed a dull blue for a second then faded, the back of the envelope opening slightly.

"Hum, very good. You can hand it back over now."

Doing as he was instructed, Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but Seth beat him to the punch.

"As for how I know who you are, I've known since you first arrived at Fairy Tail. Makarov has been keeping me updated about your situation since you arrived here in Earthland."

"Then you know about how I got here, and that I'm trying to learn seals to get me home?"

Seth nodded as he hopped up into a nearby chair, then began pulling various papers out of the envelope. "Yep. Though dimension hopping is no easy task, no one from Earthland has been able to do it for many years, and as far as I know the dragons have no interest in doing it. I'm a seal archivist for the Mage Council in Era, so every seal we ever encounter passes by my eyes at some point. Actually, you likely know my apprentice, Fried Justine. He's in Fairy Tail."

"Fried? Yeah! We were actually chatting about seals for a little while before he was called off to a mission with his team, but I haven't heard from them in a while. His are a little different from mine though, he calls his enchantments, and he can create them in the air thanks to the magic of his eyes."

Seth nodded. "That made him intriguing enough for me to allow him to become my apprentice. His ability to channel magic power through his eyes to make a solid magical surface in thin air to write on? Incredibly unique. However he still has the limitation where he needs to use runes to power his enchantments if he leaves the area, much as I hear you do with paper tags."

Naruto nodded, wondering where Seth was going with this. However, instead of saying anything more, the elderly man began shuffling through the papers in his hands, eyes opening wide at various points.

"Desperate to get home, ain'tcha?"

The shinobi was drinking water when Seth talked again, and nearly choked in surprise. Setting the glass down again, he gave the older man a curious look. "What do you mean, desperate?"

Seth snorted, tapping at one of the pieces of paper. "This whole _'Release and Vanquish' _mission. I can see Laxus doing something like this to prove he's suitable material to lead the guild when his grandfather steps down, but for you to agree to it as well... it makes you come across as rather foolhardy."

Naruto frowned, looking away for a moment. "I never said I liked what the mission entailed, but I do want to see my home again. Not only that, but it will be best for everyone in the long run, from what I hear. The old man thinks I'm the only one capable of doing what needs to be done, while getting what I need at the same time."

Sighing, Seth closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "From what I've read about you, it's probably true. I'll trust Makarov's judgment." Opening his eyes again, he gave Naruto a sharp look. "Well, we'd best get started on me reviewing the basics with you. You'll never understand what you need to look for if you don't have the basics down. I will also help you as best I can with what limited knowledge I have about dimensional seals so hopefully you won't need to look for much more when the time comes."

"Got it."

"Good." Slowly getting back to his feet from where he was sitting, the short man beckoned for Naruto to follow him once again. "Come. Much of what you're going to learn was created by the person your mission relates to. I never thought I'd be teaching anyone about him again in my lifetime."

* * *

A loud banging noise on the door downstairs immediately roused Naruto from his light slumber. Stilling his breath, he quickly hopped out of the bed, reaching for a kunai he left on the nearby dresser, only to hear the banging noise start again, followed by a muffled voice shouting for Seth to please answer his door.

Naruto grabbed a scroll instead that was next to the kunai on the dresser, promptly releasing the security seal and unfurling it. Pumping a small amount of his chakra from the various gates in his body into the scroll, he held still as small puffs of smoke appeared on his person. As the smoke cleared, Naruto immediately began adjusting his Fire Shadow outfit so that it fit properly. Quickly pocketing both the kunai and the now empty scroll, he quietly made his way down the hallway, away from the room he had been using for the last four days.

Perching at the top of the stairs, Naruto once again held his breath as he listened to the conversation taking place downstairs.

"What do you mean it's just... gone?"

"It's like I said, Master Seth! The mayor sent me here to ask you for those barrier runes! The first survivors just arrived a few minutes ago!"

"Hmm... I see. Fire Shadow, did you know anything about this?"

Naruto heard the man behind the door shout his name in exclamation, but ignored it as he leaped over the railing and landed in a crouch next to Seth. "Is this about The Beast?"

"So, you did know."

Naruto shook his head. "I know Fairy Tail sent a team to handle it, but they weren't supposed to arrive for another three days or so, according to Makarov. Something must have happened."

"Hmmm..." Seth's eyes clouded over for a moment, then he nodded and unhooked the last few latches holding his door closed. Opening the door fully, he gestured for the messenger to come inside. The younger man did as instructed, only for him to look around and eventually spot Naruto wearing his uniform. The messengers eyes went wide, and he looked about ready to say something until Seth spoke up again.

"You, follow me. I'll take you to the runes, they are in my workshop. I'll have to explain to you how to set them up."

As the messenger nodded, Seth turned to Fire Shadow, giving him an inquisitive stare. "I assume you're going to go investigate the ruckus?"

"I think that would be for the best. My other mission was to observe the team sent to take on The Beast."

"Will you return so I can finish teaching you what you'll need?"

Naruto shrugged slightly. "I will, but I don't know how soon it will be. Just from what I've heard, it sounds pretty bad, so I may not be able to return right away."

Seth hummed for a second before nodding his head and shooing Naruto away with one of his hands. "Very well. Go do what you need to do. I expect to see you again at least within a month, no later. Someone of your caliber shouldn't have any trouble returning within that time frame."

Chuckling, Naruto offered Seth a brief three-finger salute, then promptly ran out the door faster than the average persons' eyes could follow.

Seth turned to the messenger again, only to groan and roll his eyes. "Shut your mouth unless you plan on catching flies."

The messenger immediately blushed, doing as instructed. "S-Sorry. It's just... I never thought I'd see Fire Shadow here..."

Shaking his head and chuckling, Seth turned towards the doorway at the back of the hallway. "Yeah yeah, just forget about the celebrity for now. We have more important things that need doing."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes briefly as he stopped on a branch, processing the memories of a few clones that had recently dispelled. It wasn't hard finding the target town, the light from the flames that currently engulfed a large portion of the town lit up the early dawn sky brightly enough for him to pinpoint the location without having to try that hard.

Upon arrival he had immediately created about three dozen clones with orders to locate and help anyone that needed it. Most clones had quickly set out and started quenching fires with various water techniques, but several others were speeding through the streets and over rubble, looking for any survivors. The few clones that had dispelled had helped a large group get out of the town before they ran out of chakra.

Opening his eyes again, he proceeded in the direction that he last heard a roaring noise, which he could only assume was The Beast. There was a lot of ground that was messed up along the path he was traveling in various places, which led him to believe there was some kind of fight that was still going on between the Take Over Trio and The Beast.

A sequence of bright flashes not too far away in front of him illuminated enough of the surrounding area for him to make out a dark figure that was looming above several trees. Gritting his teeth, Naruto pumped chakra into his legs, launching from the branch he was on into the direction where he saw the figure.

There was another brief flash and a longer roar, followed by several other loud noises that Naruto couldn't quite place. He didn't have long to contemplate it, however, as something large was tumbling through the air right at him.

"Whoa!"

Immediately halting his momentum, Naruto immediately pushed off the side of a tree and evaded the object with barely any room to spare. The object crashed into the nearby forest behind him, the sounds of snapping tree trunks and branches filling the early dawn air.

Eyes wide, Naruto turned to look what it was, only to see that it was actually another tree that had apparently been flung from where the fight was happening. The tree's trunk was now cracked in multiple places, but it apparently had been ripped right out of the ground to be used as some sort of makeshift weapon, as the root ball was still attached.

Inhaling a deep breath, Naruto turned back around again, heading ever closer towards the roars which were growing ever louder. He swore he heard some shouting from up ahead, compelling him to push himself forward even faster.

_Be ready for anything._

**I'm always ready for a good fight. Bring it on.**

* * *

"Gyaah!"

Mirajane hit the ground hard, her body going limp as a small crater formed around where she impacted. Groaning as she sat up, the white haired woman shook her head a few times to get the stars out of her eyes. Leaning back on her elbows, she breathed in deeply, watching as The Beast started pounding its large fists against its broad chest as it roared.

To be accurate, however, this wasn't quite The Beast. They had already subdued it right outside the town. Their fight had messed up only a small portion of the town, but what happened after is when the horror truly started.

"Elfman! Wake up! You must take control of him!"

Mirajane climbed to her feet, wobbling unsteadily for a moment. She tried to stand up straight, only to wince and lean forward again as she brought an arm around in front of her, supporting her ribs. One or more of them was definitely broken. A crashing noise caused her to look up again, only to see that The Beast had ripped another tree out of the ground and was glaring at her menacingly.

"Elfman! I know you're in there! You're stronger than this!"

Against both her and Lisanna's wishes, Elfman had tried to perform a take over merger on the unconscious Beast. At first, it seemed like all would be well, until suddenly he began grabbing his head as his magic power shot to proportions she had never felt from her younger brother before. After that, all hell broke loose as he proceeded to rampage through the rest of the town as it swatted most of her powerful attacks away like they were nothing more than minor annoyances.

Grumbling to herself, she started gathering her own demonic energy in her hands, courtesy of Satan Soul, and prepared to launch another blast at him. So long as she could keep him distracted long enough for Elfman to regain control, Lisanna would never become a target.

The Beast moved forward swiftly and swung the tree at her - much, much faster than she had anticipated. The Beast was likely pulling on Elfman's magical reserves and using talents that were attributed to other creatures which Elfman had previously taken over. It was nowhere near this agile when they subdued it the first time.

Quickly switching over to defense, she felt the rough tree branches impact against her energy shield, causing sparks to fly and leaves on the tree to ignite. The power of The Beast was still too much for her drained state to handle, however, and it didn't take much for the branches to break through and send her flying.

She was flung through the air again, this time skidding painfully along the ground for several meters before coming to a stop. Coughing a few times, she brought her hand up to her face to wipe away the grime she felt on it, only to stare in shock as she realized her hand was no longer clawed, meaning Satan Soul was no longer in effect. If it ended against her will, that could only mean she was running seriously low on magical power.

"Mirajane!"

Mirajane looked up in horror, only to see Lisanna circling above her in one of her flying support forms that looked like some kind of swan.

"L-Lisanna! Stop! Stay away and hide!"

Not heeding her advice, Lisanna dived down and landed next to her sister, quickly switching back to her human form then running over and inspecting Mirajane for any damage.

"You're hurt. We need to get you out of here." Lisanna started reaching for her sister's shoulder, but Mirajane pushed her away.

"No. No... I still have some power left. I brought you on this mission and I will protect you. I'll make sure Elfman wakes up in there."

"You're out of power. I can tell. I'll get Elfman to wake up, just watch."

"W-What? Lisanna! No, stay away!"

Ignoring her elder sister's plea, Lisanna started walking steadily towards The Beast. It let out a low roar, but strangely decided to remain docile for a moment, likely sizing up its newest target.

"Elfman? Big brother? Can you hear me?"

The Beast's head cocked to the side slightly as it looked down at the small girl in front of it. Other than that one movement, it made no further actions to acknowledge that it either heard or understood her.

"I know you're in there and that you can hear me. Our mission is done, remember? We defeated The Beast, and we're ready to go home."

The Beast still made no further movements, but let out a small growling noise as it continued to look down on her. Lisanna lifted her arms up and opened them, as if offering a hug.

"Come on, Big brother! Let's all go home. You, me, and Mirajane. I know everyone is waiting for us!"

The Beast leaned it's head back slightly and let out a mighty roar. Mirajane watched with growing dread as it slowly lifted a hand in the air, while Lisanna continued to stand there, looking up with her arms open.

In the time it took her to blink, The Beast roared again, and swiftly brought its arm down.

Mirajane barely noticed as the hand hit Lisanna, sending her sister crashing into the nearby forest. It wasn't until she actually heard the cracking of tree branches that she actually turned to look. When she finally processed what had happened, a piercing shriek filled the night air.

"Lisanna! No!"

* * *

Naruto grunted, slowly opening one of his eyes, then the other. Blinking rapidly, he shook his head to clear it, only to feel the crumbling remains of his mask fall from his head. He lay there for a few moments, wondering if he had blacked out or even what the hell had happened. Kyuubi was trying to say something, but for some reason a ringing noise in his ears was blocking out most of what the demon was saying, even though Kyuubi never spoke anywhere outside of his body.

It wasn't until some of the tingling that was happening all over his body stopped that he felt something trembling in his arms. Feeling some hair brushing against his chin finally knocked the memories into places about what had just happened. Looking down slightly, he noticed that Lisanna had her hands covering her face as she lay against him, and was likely in shock.

"Ugh... Lisanna, if you ever do something like that again, I'm going to make you go through Natsu's training. Do you understand me?"

Lisanna breathed in sharply and looked up, the top of her head bumping against Naruto's chin. Naruto winced at the new pain, but it didn't seem to affect her as she gaped at him with wide, red-rimmed eyes.

"N-Naruto-niisan? Is it... am I..."

Naruto started to chuckle, but immediately began coughing instead, and tasted blood in his mouth. That's likely what the Kyuubi was ranting to him about that he couldn't hear earlier.

"You're... fine. In better condition than me, at least I hope so. Because... I fucking hurt all over."

Lisanna immediately scrambled off of him, and started to look him over. Naruto tried to chuckle again, but winced as he felt a pain in his chest. Waving Lisanna off, he focused on pulling some of Kyuubi's chakra, and groaned as he felt the familiar burning sensation rush to where his worst injuries were.

The younger girl watched in amazement as Naruto's visible wounds started fixing themselves right before her eyes, small plumes of what looked to be steam rising from the worst among them.

"Naruto-niisan? What's going on? I can use one of my take over's to heal you!"

"No." Naruto slowly started climbing to his feet, rushing faster when he heard The Beast let out another roar. "Kyuubi is healing me. I'll be fine. I need to go save your sister now."

"She needs healing too, I can come-"

"No!"

Naruto's barked order made Lisanna wince and take a step back. Looking down, she moved one arm across her chest to grab the elbow of her other arm. Naruto's face immediately softened, but his voice was as strong as steel.

"I don't want to risk having The Beast target you again. I'm going to have to use Kyuubi's power, and it's going to be an intense battle. I'll lure The Beast away and try to knock him out, only when we're out of sight do you go help Mirajane. Am I clear?"

Lisanna sniffed and wouldn't meet his eyes, but nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Good. Stay out of sight for now. I'll try to end this as fast as I can."

Turning around swiftly, Naruto quickly sped from the area, following the path that had been cleared when he came crashing through the trees with Lisanna in his grip.

_Be ready for the cloak, version two._

**I thought you'd want to go Sage for this.**

_I'd prefer that to be safe, but we don't have the time to synchronize. I also don't feel like bickering with you about using the sealed hatred form. Mirajane needs help right now from what I saw._

**Just let the human die. That Beast is dangerous, it would be better to be prepared.**

_No! I refuse to let anyone die. You know me better than this, Kyuubi._

**I still don't see why you bother with-**

_Kyuubi! Shut up and do it! Now!_

**Fine. Here comes the burn, fool.**

Naruto immediately let out a choked scream as the vile red chakra engulfed him completely, forming a solid protective barrier around his body. Nine tails began waving about behind him, and he could feel each of them sort of... connect with his subconscious. In a strange way they had minds of their own, but he could still control them individually if needed.

Coming to the edge of the forested area, Naruto watched as The Beast continued lumbering towards Mirajane. The mage did not appear to be moving, being exhausted plus the thought of losing her sister likely meant she didn't care what happened to herself at this point. It was also the first clear look he got of The Beast. It easily towered over everything, and was twice the height of most of the trees in the area. What was the most odd about it was it's composition - bird like feet with a torso that resembled a powerful ape. It had two sharp looking horns that came out of the top of its head, as well as one large horn that came out from the back of each shoulder.

Cursing silently as The Beast grew closer to her, Naruto moved to stand between two sturdier looking trees. Using four tails, he had two each grab a tree on either side, and he began to walk backwards quickly. He felt the chakra of the tails stretch like rubber, and heard the trees groan and crack as he moved backwards.

When he felt it was enough, he lifted his feet off the ground, the tails launching him like a slingshot. Both trees snapped with the force of the air as he was launched from between them, and a decent sized cloud of dirt and fallen leaves followed in his wake.

Naruto barely had enough time to curl himself into a ball, his tails wrapping around him as he smashed into The Beast like a cannonball. The Beast let out a roar of surprise and pain as Naruto collided with it, and it was unable to maintain proper footing as it slowly fell to the ground on its side, causing the ground nearby to shake.

_Ugh, crap. What the hell is that guy made of? It felt like hitting a brick wall, even with the cloak._

**Probably a trait of other monsters the human has taken over. It wouldn't surprise me.**

_Yeah, but still. Damn..._

Naruto shook his head as he dragged himself back to his feet, then quickly looked in the direction he saw Mirajane last. She was still in the same place on the ground, it didn't even look like she bothered to see what caused the ground to shake.

Making his way over to her as he heard The Beast shuffling around behind him, he stopped nearby, but not too close. He could see her face, she was looking up at the sky with visible tear streaks running along her cheeks and jaw.

_**"Mirajane."**_

Naruto's deeper, rough voice caused her to shake her head once, but she still didn't move. It wasn't until he called her name a second time, with a little more power behind it, did she bother to look at him. Even then it wasn't until her eyes looked him over that she realized something was going on.

"W-Who... what?"

_**"It's me, Naruto. You need to drag yourself to the line of trees behind me. I'm going to take care of The Beast."**_

"Why?"

Naruto growled in aggravation, he needed her to move, and Kyuubi's chakra running rampant through his system, hatred and all, wasn't helping his patience any.

_**"Because your sister is over there waiting for you, and this area is likely to become a battle zone."**_

"Lisanna! Lisanna is alive? But I saw-"

_**"I don't know what you think you saw but you need to go now! She's fine! The Beast is coming this way again! I can't move you because I'll burn your skin! Now go!"**_

True to what he was saying, The Beast had managed to get back to its feet, and was roaring like crazy as it headed for them. Not watching Mirajane anymore to make sure she moved, Naruto took off towards The Beast. It raised a hand as he approached, as if to smash him into the ground, but Naruto managed to dodge just in time.

The cloud of dirt that was kicked up camouflaged Naruto temporarily, allowing him to get closer to The Beast's legs, and he extended his chakra coated fingers to form claws. As he ran by, he swiped at one of The Beasts's bird-like legs, only to find that he couldn't scratch it at all.

_So much for that plan. Looks like this might become a power battle. I don't want to kill him though..._

**You may not have a choice.**

_I know, but I'm going to do everything I can to avoid it._

Getting a bit of distance between himself and The Beast, Naruto brought his tails around and began pumping chakra out of them in front of his face. A small, black mass of chakra formed in front of him, to which he opened his now-larger mouth and consumed it. Concentrating, he focused as the chakra began releasing inside of his body.

Aiming at The Beast, Naruto opened his mouth and forcefully expelled the chakra mass from his body, sending it flying towards his opponent. He heard as The Beast let out a bellow once again, then the projectile reached it, and any other noise was drowned out by the explosion.

Naruto sat and watched patiently as the smoke and debris slowly began to clear, only for his white eyes to go wide as The Beast, looking barely singed, took several steps out of the smoke cloud.

_You have got to be kidding me._

**I'd be impressed if this wasn't frustrating me, too.**

Launching himself forward once again, Naruto attempted to run past The Beast faster than it could track, in hopes of getting behind it. The chakra-covered teen grunted in surprise, however, as his forward momentum stopped and he crashed face-first into the dirt. Lifting his head up, he looked behind him, only for his eyes to go wide yet another time.

_**"What the-"**_

The Beast had somehow managed to move fast enough to grab onto two of his tails. Naruto tried digging his hands and feet into the ground, but The Beast exerted more force than he expected.

_**"W-Whoa!"**_

Naruto felt the chakra from his tails stretch out a bit as he was pulled backwards and up into the air. He was launched up into a high arc, and had enough time to brace himself as The Beast used the grip on his tails to slam him into the hard earth. Naruto grunted at he hit the ground, squinting as he looked up towards the sky from within the crater that had formed upon his impact. The short reprieve didn't last long as The Beast once again yanked on his tails, pulling him from the crater, and settled for throwing him into the forest this time.

His mind blanked for a few seconds as he crashed through the forest, snapping twigs and trunks alike. Shaking his head as he tried to get the ringing noise to stop, he pushed himself up on shaky arms.

**You know, I don't think I've ever been sent flying like that before. Other than the landing, it looked amusing.**

_Strangely, I feel the same way. But enough about that. I'm bringing out the bones for extra traction and armor._

**You should just go full form; version three.**

_I'm really hoping I don't need to. If it comes to that, this area will never look the same._

Not paying attention to if the Kyuubi replied, Naruto let a little more of the Kyuubi's hate and chakra flow through him, and streams of chakra shot from his body forming into a fox-like skeleton. Lines of red chakra went from his body to the skeleton, connecting them so he could manipulate them as if they were his own. In certain situations he could manipulate the bones differently from his own body using chakra.

Charging forward, Naruto lowered his head, bringing the fox-bone skull down a little to protect him. Crashing through the forest, he knocked everything out of his way, leaving a strange sort of chakra-wake in his path.

Upon reaching the clearing once again, The Beast immediately spotted him, likely following the path of destruction that Naruto left behind him. Roaring yet again, The Beast charged at him, cocking an arm back in an attempt to smash him with his fist as he got closer.

Naruto felt himself shudder as he used his new bone appendages to grab and hold the fist as it hit him. The ground beneath both his and the bone feet gave way slightly from the pressure of the impact. Bringing his tails back around to converge on a point in front himself, he quickly formed a small amount of dark chakra in front of his face for a second time.

**What are you doing, idiot? If you hit him with it at this range-**

_I'm not going to try hard to hit him with it._

**What?**

_Just watch. I need a distraction._

Naruto used the bone claws to hold The Beast near him, his feet and tails now digging into the ground around him in an attempt to hold them both place. Once again focusing the chakra inside of him, Naruto leaned from around The Beast's clenched fist, aiming up towards its face, which was currently looking down at him and growling.

Opening his mouth, Naruto prepared to launch the chakra at The Beast's head. He didn't put nearly as much chakra into this one as before, so hopefully it would only stun it enough for him to get in a good blow. Seeing what Naruto was trying to do, however, The Beast started pulling harder, trying to get its fist out of Naruto's clawed grip. Just as the ground Naruto was digging into began to give way, he launched the chakra projectile towards The Beast's face.

It hit The Beast, but not in the way Naruto was intending. Instead of hitting directly, The Beast had pulled its head back enough to make the projectile miss impacting it directly, however the chakra blast still grazed its face. A large, bleeding cut appeared on The Beast's right cheek, going up towards its eye.

The small explosion in the sky from the chakra projectile served to distract The Beast further, as it looked up to see if there was another attack coming at it. Even if it wasn't part of his original plan, Naruto used that moment of distraction to his advantage, releasing his hold on The Beast's fist.

Quickly moving around behind The Beast and planting the bone feet into the ground to rapidly alter his direction, Naruto brought the bone claws together into a larger fist and coated them with the Kyuubi's chakra for reinforcement. Using his tails as a springboard to push off the ground, he jumped high into the air and brought the large bone fist up with him, promptly smashing it into the back of The Beast's head.

With a grunt, The Beast stumbled forward a step, then another, finally tilting forward and crashing into the ground, face-first. As Naruto landed on the ground at The Beast's feet, he observed as The Beast's size started shrinking, slowly at first, but then rapidly. When the transformation was complete, it was no longer The Beast lying there, but Elfman instead.

The male sibling of the Take Over Trio groaned for a moment as he woke up, then pushed his arms against the ground and rolled over. Sitting up and blinking a few times, he stared absently at Naruto who was in his demon cloak version two, bone armor still present.

_**"Are you coherent now?"**_

Elfman raised one hand, rubbing at the bleeding cut on his cheek. "Y-Yeah... who are you? What happened?"

_**"I'm sure your sisters will be able to explain. I need you to watch over my body."**_

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Naruto didn't answer, but pushed the Kyuubi's chakra back behind the seal within him. The chakra slowly receded from his body; the bones disappearing and the chakra cloak exposing his normal features once again.

"N-Naruto! That was you? How did you manage to-"

The blond was aware that Elfman was still talking, and saw as he started climbing to his feet. But his vision was growing darker and darker around the edges, and it wasn't long before he felt his body start to sway. The last thing he remembered seeing was the dawn sky as his tunnel vision closed completely.

**You're going to be out of it for a while.**

_Yeah... goodnight._

**Hmph. **

* * *

Naruto sighed to himself as he walked down the quiet streets of Magnolia Town. The scene of the guild hall wouldn't leave his mind. Nothing bad had happened, quite the contrary, but he'd seen some people in the guild treat him differently than he was used to. The entire hall was silent as he had descended the stairs after his debriefing with Makarov, and even though he tried to ignore the stares and whispers, as soon as he arrived at the bottom of the steps, Lisanna jumped into his arms and began to cry, thanking him again. He had seen her standing at the bottom as he descended, and Makarov had warned him that it would be best to let people say what they feel like they had to say to him instead of trying to sneak away.

It didn't take long after that for various members of the guild to come up and thank or congratulate him for a job well done. The biggest surprise so far of the night had been when Natsu came over, his eyes red, and bowed forward, thanking Naruto profusely then promising to work twice as hard at his training. The little blue cat Happy was bowing down from where he stood next to Natsu, and was likewise promising to be a more efficient fish-catcher, or something along those lines.

Naruto had done his best to be quick with his acceptance of any thanks or praise, and deflected the questions about what it was exactly that he did, stating he was tired. It seemed like Lisanna and Elfman had done a fine enough job telling the story anyway. The only thing that had grabbed his attention was that both Mirajane and Erza seemed to be missing, virtually the entire guild minus Gildarts and Mystogan were present.

Upon asking, Lisanna had informed him that Mirajane had pulled Erza away, saying that she needed to talk to her about something. Erza had proceeded to tell her, Natsu, and Gray that if she wasn't back when Naruto was done with his meeting that she would meet him at his place.

He had taken his time walking to his home on the outskirts of Magnolia Town, enjoying the cool night air. He had finally accrued enough money about a year ago to buy himself a decent place. It also doubled as his workshop, he had several rooms underground where he tested his seals. Most of the more volatile ones were done out in the wild, but most of them he could test in his home with no worries. Besides the workshop, he had plenty of spare rooms, and quite often he had let Natsu, Gray, and a handful of others sleep at his place after a long day of training.

Pushing some chakra into his palm, he placed it against the door to his house. There was a brief clicking noise, and the door swung open. It was one of his latest seal inventions, the chakra - or magical power - lock. Just push a little power into the seal and it unlocks and opens the door automatically; several of his friends were already attuned to the ones that gave access to the main parts of his house. Stepping inside, Naruto rolled his shoulders as he closed the door behind him. Looking down at his attire, he sighed as he remembered the battered condition most of it was in. As he began to unlatch the metal plates that protected his torso, he heard Erza's voice come from down the hall.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, it's me. How long have you been here?"

Erza's head peeked from around the corner at the end of the hall for a moment before the rest of her followed, and she slowly started walking towards him. "I just arrived here a moment ago, myself. I was talking with Mirajane for longer than I expected to."

Naruto nodded, but remained silent as he finished unlatching his armor, gently placing the battered light metal against the wall. He looked up as Erza started speaking in a quiet voice, and noticed that she was looking at the plates as she talked.

"Mirajane told me about what happened. How you saved her and both of her siblings. She says if you weren't there, Lisanna would be dead and she probably would have been too."

"As bad as it sounds, she's probably right. It wasn't pretty. Elfman is going to be depressed for a little while, but he's dedicated himself to practicing his Take Over ability with Mirajane now, and even asked me for help when I'm available. Even Mirajane asked for any help I could offer in being more efficient with her magical power, but she claims she doesn't want to use Satan Soul for a while after this. So we'll see."

Silence reigned between them for a moment as Naruto turned to remove his shoes, leaving them by the door. As he turned back around, his eyes went wide as Erza had moved right up in front of him. Without a word, she gently placed her hands on his chest, moved up to her tiptoes, and kissed him.

At first, Naruto's mind went blank. It took him a few seconds to register that Erza had her soft lips pressed against his, and was keeping them there. A small part of who he used to be immediately wanted to break it and start cheering, but the new, more rational side decided that prolonging this wonderful moment was the preferable course of action.

Erza's eyes were already closed, so he slowly let his do the same as he brought his arms around, placing his hands on her back. The blond felt as she more fully leaned her body against his, but at the same time she pulled her head back and dropped down from her tiptoes, breaking the kiss. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see her give him a faint smile, then move her head forward again to rest against his chest, right near his shoulder.

"Thank you, Naruto."

"I don't know what you're thanking me for, but you're welcome anyway."

He both felt and heard her chuckle, as her chest was pressed against his and her mouth wasn't far from his ear. She gradually moved her hands down from the sides of his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Airhead. Thank you for saving the Trio. Even if we seem like we hate each other to everyone else, Mirajane is my best friend, and my rival."

Thinking back to his own past connection with Sasuke, Naruto let a smile ghost across his face. "I know exactly what you mean."

He felt Erza nod against his shoulder, "Elfman will become that much stronger once he fully masters the Take Over, and Lisanna; everyone in the guild loves her. We would have been crushed if she had died, especially Natsu and Happy. So... thank you."

"No need to thank me. If Lisanna died, I would have been just as saddened as everyone else."

Erza nodded again, and they stood there in companionable silence for a few moments. After a little while, Naruto was about to speak up and ask if he could go get changed out of his messed up uniform, but Erza spoke first.

"Naruto?"

"Huh?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Naruto nodded. "Sure. All of the extra rooms are cleaned, so you can pick any room you want. I'll have to send a clone to the store, though, I haven't been shopping in a while so I don't have any good food for dinner tonight."

Erza giggled a little, but then moved away from Naruto, standing in front of him once again as she shook her head negatively.

"If I can pick a room, then I pick yours."

Blinking, Naruto gave her a confused look. "Why would you want to sleep in my room? I mean, I don't mind, but then I'd hav-"

He was silenced as she moved forward and kissed him once again. This one was more brief than the first, but she kept him from saying anything as she pulled away by placing a finger over his lips.

"I want to sleep _with_ you, in _your_ room."

It didn't take long for Naruto's eyes to go wide, but they didn't stay that way for long as his gaze immediately softened, and he nodded. When she pulled her finger away after his nod, he had a question.

"Are you sure?"

At first, Erza gave him a fierce look, but that quickly changed into something resembling a fond gaze as her hands moved forward, finding his, and intertwined their fingers.

"When you first got here over two years ago, I thought you were intriguing. Of course I also thought you were rather handsome, though being completely honest, I think my rivalry with Mirajane made you more interesting than you might otherwise have been. After seeing you in action, however, and understanding the way you thought... I wanted to get to know you better. So I had asked you to be my partner in the future.

"After a year of working with you, I began to realize that I liked you a lot, and I wanted to be with you more. Unfortunately I know it made me come across as selfish sometimes."

"But you-"

"Shh!" Erza gave him a glare, and he quickly shut his mouth, chagrined. "I know how I was acting, and I apologized, and we've already been over this. I know. Still, it happened. I started talking to Lisanna about my feelings, and she was the one who told me I was in love with you. I decided I wanted to tell you, and I was going to, but the whole 'being selfish' bit put that on hold.

"After what happened the other day, though, and how you came to the rescue of my friends... I know you're the kind of man I'd want to spend the rest of my life with, I just hope you'd accept me as well, selfish parts and all."

Erza looked back up at him again, her eyes glistening slightly. Naruto knew that he probably had some kind of stupid shocked look on his face, even though he had been quietly harboring feelings for her for a while too.

"Naruto, I love you."

That said, she promptly moved forward and kissed him yet again. This one lasted longer than the second one, and came close to lasting longer than the first, until she broke away. She gazed at him with half-lidded eyes, and some odd mental prodding in the back of his head made him realize she was waiting for him to say something now.

"Erza... I... I think I love you too."

Her head tilted to the side, a small smile ghosting upon her face. In the dim lighting of the foyer, it was hard to tell if it was an amused smile... or a more menacing one.

"You only think you do?"

Naruto panicked a little and began to stutter, but he felt both of her hands squeeze his, and it strangely worked wonders at calming him down. Taking a deep breath, he decided to start over.

"No... I know I do. I'm just not very good at this. I know it might sound weird, but I guess I'm a lot more used to being confessed to, rather than doing any confessing. But yes, I do love you. I'm fairly certain that I have for months, but I was too nervous to say anything."

Erza smiled before settling back against him once again. "I'm glad. I was nervous too, I've never felt this strongly about anyone before, so I didn't really know what to do either."

There was more silence between them until Naruto cleared his throat.

"So... uhm... what do we do now?"

"Now?" Erza spoke in a slightly teasing voice as she separated their hands, then proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling his head down a little to place her forehead against his, "Now we go to your room. I have an S-Ranked mission for you, should you choose to accept it."

Naruto grinned, the innuendo not lost on him for once, considering the overall mood. He felt as a blush slowly worked its way over his face. "A mission from you? Of course."

The redhead smiled before pushing up to peck at his lips yet again, then released him and started walking down the hall. "You'll have to follow me to come get it."

Naruto kept the silly grin on his face as he watched her disappear around a corner, then closed his eyes and let his head loll backwards so his face was pointed towards the ceiling.

"So this is what it feels like, huh, Ero-sennin? It also only gets better from here?"

Chuckling to himself, Naruto shook his head and opened his eyes, then started walking down the hall to follow after Erza.

"I'm hooked already."

* * *

A/N: Not much to say. Hope everyone is satisfied with the outcome in regards to Lisanna, and are going 'finally!' with Naruto and Erza. Some people might be surprised at how bold Erza might suddenly seem... but she always has been. The only thing that has been holding her back is nervousness, as she stated. Both at the party when asking Naruto to be her partner, and now. She just finally overcame that nervousness.

As for the team name poll, over 100 people have voted already, so get your votes in if you haven't. The current winning choice so far is only winning by a difference of 2 votes, just so everyone knows! I'll probably leave it up for a few more days before closing it and posting the results.

Also, for those who have been asking - I'm completely up to date on the latest chapters for the 'Big 3' from WSJ, as well as smaller titles from them like Beelzebub and Medaka Box, and monthlies like Rosario+Vampire. There are also several Kodansha titles I follow, among others.

Reviews: (I should probably note that I'm speaking casually below, therefore be warned that it's likely there are canon spoilers if you aren't up to date.)

_Time Skip_ - Yep, and another one is right around the corner.

_Rikudo Sennin_ - Yeah, it's not just in his mind now. That's nice and all, but coming up with a name for it isn't going to be easy, not with one potentially showing up in canon soon. Besides that, it's not really 'Rikudo Mode' or anything like that, he doesn't have the Rinnegan - Kyuubi only remarked how similar the seals used to contain him inside Naruto were similar to those the Rikudo Sennin used. For now, with lack of a better alternative, I'm referring to it as the 'Sealed Hatred' form. Which is essentially what happens, Naruto keeps Kyuubi's consciousness and hatred sealed away while he uses the pure chakra freely. The form in this story will contain everything revealed so far in canon.

_Naruto Undercover_ - Not really necessary, he's the type to either sneak around and get stuff done or just blow it all up, y'know?

_Teaching Shinobi Skills_ - He can try teaching others, but since most of them are beyond the age for ninja training, it can't be easy. No one can do any of his signature techniques, nor will they ever be able to.

_'Whipped' Naruto_ - He isn't _really_ whipped. Kyuubi just likes getting on Naruto's nerves, obviously. Not only that, Kyuubi was previously sealed into two females. Now he gets to see what it's like from the other side of the fence to be the whip-ee instead of the whip-er.

_Canon Humor_ - I'll do my best to keep it as it is, just inserting Naruto and modifying where appropriate. Honestly, as far as canon is concerned, I may just skip or skim a lot of the actual manga scenes, and have Naruto scenes where he's doing his own thing. I'm still working on drafts for chapters and haven't really decided yet. I've been concentrating on getting my own post-canon custom stuff fleshed out.

_Duration_ - I don't really want to say, because every time I have with my other fics it's never been accurate. From what the looks of what I have written down, though... 15-20 more chapters. Don't hold me to that number though. Could be more, could be less.

_63 Challenges_ - The reason for the low number of 'official' challenges is because most of the time Naruto has had Natsu beat into the ground from training. If he wasn't attempting to train Natsu, the challenge number would probably be in the five hundreds.

_Shodai Death Redux_ - No, he died in a war, I'm pretty sure. He was alive after the fight with Madara, because he captured Kyuubi. It was the first time Kyuubi was sealed into a jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Mito, his wife. Naruto is the 3rd generation Uzumaki to contain the Kyuubi.

_Mystogan Dimensional Travel_ - He won't say anything until it's appropriate, since it's a magic skill he's learned and doesn't use seals for. The spell only lets him go back and forth between Edolas and Earthland.

_Jellal, Edolas, Etc_. - If it has appeared in canon, it will make an appearance in this story. Some aspects will obviously be fleshed out more than others.

_Sequel Hint_ - Naruto and Erza will remain together. I'll give a hint a chapter, I guess. I reserve the right to pick which question I feel like answering from reviews, if any of them.


	12. The New Ninja Centerfold

Chapter 12

_bzzz. bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. BZZZ. BZZZ._

Naruto slowly cracked an eye open as the alarm on his nightstand started buzzing louder. Grunting, he pulled his arm out from underneath the sheets, reaching over and smacking the top of the clock none too lightly, activating the snooze button. Yawning now, he brought the hand back and briefly rubbed it over his eyes and forehead.

Blinking quickly as he adjusted to the sun-lit room, Naruto moved his hand away from his face and let his hand rest on his chest, his mind going over what was planned for the day. Get up, get dressed, pick up some of those new kunai from the blacksmith, apply the seals, then stop by the guild to say goodbye...

Naruto's eyes opened fully as he remembered. Erza had been going on about this mission all week, wanting to take it because it paid well and would be easy for them to finish quickly, so they could stay away from the hectic guild for a few days and take a small kind of vacation. It was their anniversary of sorts, after all. Supposedly eighteen months warranted a small celebration?

As he got older Naruto stopped paying much attention to dates, though he learned quickly that Erza at least expected him to remember a few of them. She never forgot the day he arrived at the guild, the day they became partners, his birthday, or the day he saved the lives of the Take Over Trio. The only dates that she absolutely demanded he remember were her birthday and their anniversary, so anything else he managed to recall was just a bonus.

So of course, he had no problem remembering when their first year anniversary had arrived, and had taken her shopping for anything she wanted, even if it was for a new set of armor. However, much to his surprise, she had settled for a pair of earrings that closely resembled his kunai in their shape, only they were miniatures compared to the original size. Erza had suggested that he get a pair for himself too, and after a little thought, he decided to go ahead.

Then she had asked for him to make her some ramen. That itself was unusual, she barely ever ate the stuff... even he had cut back considerably. But as they ate their ramen together at his place, the evening sun streaming through the kitchen windows; the whole thing just seemed, well, perfect. The serene smile on her face as they chatted about random things was something that he'd do anything to see again.

A weight pressing up against his side caused Naruto's head to shift to his left, where he glimpsed at a contented face with a head of dark red hair resting against his bare arm. One of Erza's arms slowly snaked its way across his chest, under his own hand and arm, eventually coming to a rest as it draped completely across him from underneath the sheets.

"Erza? Heeeyyy, Erzaaaa..."

He was talking in a murmur in case she wasn't awake yet, but he had a feeling the alarm had woken her up as well. It usually did when she slept over at his place. Over the last handful of months or so, she spent every day at his house if they were both in Magnolia Town. It was even beginning to show in various places around his home; the occasional suit of armor propped up against random walls or weapons left on top of any relatively flat surface, or the fact that she had taken over several of his dressers in his room and tables in his workshop for her own personal use was ample proof.

It was getting to the point where even other members of Fairy Tail noticed it, whenever they stopped by for various reasons. Gray would usually just roll his eyes, and Natsu was forever oblivious, though Naruto suspected some of it was starting to be an act. Lisanna would get a sly grin and start to joke with Erza about making Naruto pick up after her, and Elfman would smirk but otherwise remain silent. Mirajane, however, was the most open about it. She would start flirting with him in front of anyone, asking if he minded if she left stuff lying around too.

He flirted back, of course, though they were both well aware that nothing would come from it. Fortunately or unfortunately, it did leave him open to getting pranked, as on more than one occasion he was finding things where he shouldn't have. Things he _knew_ Erza didn't own, like underwear that was nearly transparent in places or had... frills. Or tops that showed way too much cleavage. Sure, Erza would occasionally wear something that was fairly revealing, but never to the extent of what the planted clothing showed off, especially not in public. As a matter of fact, he found out a little more about Erza's 'dressing' habits purely by chance.

After they had been dating for about two months, Erza managed to discover that he had three rather interesting books he was planning to publish which had been written by his godfather. That she didn't immediately kill him, he felt relieved. That she actually seemed somewhat interested, he felt wary. One day about a week after her discovery, he came home from an assignment to find her dressed up in a very _familiar_ outfit and acting out a very _familiar_ scene, and he decided to play along for the hell of it. The end result was definitely worth it, and he felt like he was in heaven. Eventually, Erza ended up publishing the books _for_ him, through her business front. Naruto just knew his old perverted godfather was either laughing his ass off from the afterlife, or cheering for him. Knowing Jiraiya... probably both.

Erza murmured something against his arm, pulling him out of his musing, but it was nothing that he could understand even with his enhanced hearing.

"Hmm? I couldn't hear what you said."

He could see as Erza shifted slightly, the sheet moving down along her arm to expose her pajama-clad shoulder. Naruto felt her breath against his skin as she inhaled deeply, then spoke up again, clearer this time.

"Just..." Naruto couldn't stop the small chuckle that escaped his lips as Erza yawned cutely in the middle of starting to talk, "Just five more minutes."

"If I let you get up in five minutes, you're going to get mad at me. You're the one who told me to mak-"

He stopped talking abruptly as she shifted, moving one of her legs to rest on top of his. Her thigh just so happened to bump against something of his, causing her to giggle.

"So bad."

He sighed in exasperation, fully awake now. "It's biological. I can't stop it. We've been over this."

"Mmm, trust me, I know."

Naruto felt a light wetness as she kissed his shoulder, since he typically didn't wear a shirt to bed anymore. He had continued wearing his mesh undershirt to sleep out of habit, up until Erza started sleeping over at his place. After the first night she had managed to somehow get several strands of her hair tangled in the mesh. Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Her arm slowly worked its way back across his chest, only for her hand to stop in the middle, then slowly start moving down to his abdomen.

"Erza... not that I'd be complaining normally, but you did warn me last night that you wanted to leave early today. I don't want to get in troaaaahh!"

Ignoring him, Erza snaked her hand under the elastic waistband of his pajama pants, reached around for a few seconds, then grabbed him and _squeezed._ At this point, his hormones were seriously considering calling for a mutiny against his finally maturing logical self. Self-preservation might have had a little say in the matter as well, helping hold the tide against the hormonal onslaught.

"D-Don't you remember what you told me last night?"

"Mhm." Not saying anything else, Erza shifted a little more against him, so that part of her body was now on top of his. He was definitely feeling a lot more skin against his body now than he should, which could only mean that she had unbuttoned her pajama top with her other hand since she had started this little scene.

"Look, I should seriously get up and make breakfast. I don't know how coherent you are right now, but I _really_ have no desire to be in trouble later. You are the one who warned me not to sleep in today so we can relax on the train on the way. If we're late..."

Erza's face hovered over his for a second, and she gave him a brief half-lidded smile. "It'll be okay." Giving him a brief peck on the lips, he went to return the quick kiss until she pulled away, then started planting gentle kisses along his jaw.

"Ummh. Need to shave."

He considered rolling his eyes, that was the one thing she constantly nagged him about, but she squeezed him again, and any remark he would have made died on his lips instantly. Facial hair had started showing up out of nowhere just a little over a year ago. He always thought it was unusual that he never had any, and even Jiraiya had seemed clueless as to the cause. After a while he didn't think much of it, but when it started growing like crazy, he immediately started harping on the Kyuubi, believing his resident demon to be the cause of the sudden change. The bastard, however, simply stated that he could not alter Naruto's physical make-up in any way even though he desperately wished to; the seal prevented it. The only thing Kyuubi could do would be to give him his own furry parts temporarily, but Naruto did not want to risk Erza possibly becoming... addicted. No way.

Feeling her tongue flick against his nipple caused him to rather quickly snap back to reality. She didn't linger there long, however, and continued kissing down his body under the sheets.

"E-Erza, I hope you're fully awake by now. I am so not getting in trouble with you for thi-ooh!"

Warm. It felt _so good _already. Naruto's brain went to mush as logic fell to the wayside and his hormonal drive took the reigns. She wanted five minutes? He could do that.

Hell, he'd give her fifty.

_bzzz. bzzz. Bzz- Thump!_ "Damn clo- Uhhhn..."

* * *

"Fairy Tail caused trouble again? They destroyed the Devon Thief Family, but also destroyed 7 other houses that belonged to the townspeople..."

A pretty young blond girl started snickering as her eyes scanned the article in Weekly Sorcerer magazine. Usually the magazine reported that Fairy Tail's missions were a big success... but occasionally there were a few that caused a lot of collateral damage.

As the girl continued reading, she started snickering in earnest from where she sat on a bench near a park. Finally it appeared as though she reached a point where she couldn't stifle the giggles anymore, and burst out laughing in earnest. She clutched the magazine to her large chest as she laughed uproariously for several moments before finishing with a sigh.

"Ahh, that's way too much. Those crazy mages. Still, to be a Fairy Tail mage, I wonder how someone joins? Do you need to learn strong magic, or are there just a bunch of interviews? Hmm..."

The girl flipped through a couple more pages before stopping on one that looked interesting. _Very_ interesting, now that she looked closer. There was a small picture of Fire Shadow, the one that they used whenever they had information about him. Over the years it became apparent that Weekly Sorcerer was the only magazine Fire Shadow ever talked to, and even then there was only one journalist in their entire staff that he allowed interviews from as well.

The blond teenage girl was a proud member of the Fire Shadow Fan Club that Weekly Sorcerer sponsored, and had even been to a few of the club meetings. She even had her membership pin with her membership number on it, and was completely giddy when she found out that she was member number one hundred and five. She had overheard some other girls talking about being members while in the town she was currently visiting, and heard that one of them was in the ten thousands.

Reading the article carefully now, the girl realized that it didn't really have much of anything new that she didn't already know. It was more or less an update, and also said what missions Fire Shadow had completed with his team, Red Twilight. Of course, exactly who the members of that team were was still a secret that he kept, along with his real name.

Her heart began beating faster as she continued reading, discovering where this particular mini-interview had taken place. Quickly flipping over to the next page, she saw the first two pages of the Mirajane gravure photo shoot, and sighed wistfully.

"Mirajane is so glamorous... I'm jealous."

Mirajane was wearing a rather simple bikini compared to some others that the girl had seen used for gravure shots, but it didn't really matter because Mirajane was incredibly pretty anyway. Turning the page yet again, the girl was shocked to see another set of modeling photos, yet this time it was of Erza!

"Erza the Titania? No way! She's never posed for one of these before! She's so pretty too... ugh, I hope being good looking isn't a requirement to join."

She was confident in her looks, certainly, but compared to women like Mirajane and Erza, there was no contest. Erza's dark red hair stood out in contrast with her slightly tanned skin and black bikini, the sly smirk on her face only accentuated her features. Sighing to herself, the girl tried to turn the page, only to realize she was at the centerfold. Curious as to who got it, she opened it and spread it out on the bench, only for her jaw to suddenly drop.

Fire Shadow was in it, he was wearing swim trunks that males commonly wore, only his were a rare bright orange. The mage was sitting on a beach towel, legs folded pretzel-style, and was leaning back against a rather large beach ball. He also still had his mask on, she noticed with a slight twinge of disappointment. He looked to be a bit sweaty, or perhaps even oiled up for the shot, since she could see the ridges of his muscles on his upper body. Those abs...

The girl forced her eyes away from the picture for a moment to calm herself down, then looked back at it again. Now her eyes picked up a few other things; those other _things_ being _ both_ of the other girls. Mirajane was laying down on the blanket, her silver hair billowing out over Naruto's crossed legs as her head rested in his lap. Erza, meanwhile, was leaning back against one of Fire Shadow's arms, her own arms up high in the air as some of her long red hair dangled from her fingers.

While Mirajane had her eyes closed and had a peaceful expression on her face, Erza had her eyes only partially closed and was facing the camera with a coy smile. It made the girl wonder if Fire Shadow was doing something that the camera couldn't see... but both of his hands were visible, resting on the towel. The rest of his body language didn't seem to give anything away, and overall he looked rather comfortable too.

Slowly closing the centerfold, the blond teenager noticed that there were more photos on the back of it, though they were smaller than the standard pictures. Glancing through them, most of them seemed to be the usual fare of the girls doing various poses, and even Fire Shadow showed up in a couple of them, usually with one of the two girls holding onto or pressing against him somewhere, but never both of them.

That didn't change until the end of the series, which started making her giggle again. In the first, Mirajane had somehow gotten Fire Shadow's mask, and was wearing it. She had bent over quite a bit so her cleavage was quite easy notice, and she was waving at the camera. Fire Shadow was turned away from the camera, of course, but it was also easy enough to see that Erza had one of her hands over Fire Shadow's eyes, as her other hand pointed at Mirajane, and it looked like she was yelling.

In the next picture, Mirajane was covering her now-naked chest as she was blushing and chasing Erza, who was running away from the other woman, Mirajane's top clenched in her hand. Fire Shadow was facing the camera now, clearly shrugging. His mask was back on, but he was clenching what looked to be a slightly bloody towel in one of his hands.

Giggling, the girl slowly closed the magazine and laid her head back, sighing.

"I bet it would be fun to join Fairy Tail. I wish I could."

"I see. So you want to join Fairy Tail."

The girl yelped in shock as a deep male voice spoke right in her ear. Turning quickly, she noticed a head and shoulders that were sticking out of the bush behind the bench. She immediately recognized the man, including the smug grin on his face.

"You again!"

His grin grew even more smug, if such a thing was possible, as he started climbing out of the bush.

"I've been looking all over for you. I really, _really_ wanted to invite a beautiful young lady such as yourself to a party on my ship tonight."

The girl's eyes narrowed as she looked at the man in front of her. She had met him once before, by chance, on the street just barely an hour ago. He had charmed a crowd of females, and she felt a spell of some sort start to fall over her as well until a teenage boy with pink hair walked by and interrupted it.

"Listen buddy, let me tell you something. Your charm won't work on me anymore. The weak thing about charm spells is that if someone knows they are happening, they are completely useless."

Not seeming to be insulted in the least, the man's smile grew even larger.

"Ah! I knew you were a mage when our eyes met for the very first time. It is perfectly fine if the spell doesn't work, I don't really need it anyway." He gave her a small bow, "I will simply be happy if you show up."

The blond girl contemplated his offer for all of three seconds before offering him a sneer, "There is no way I'd come to such a nasty guy's party."

_That_ seemed to make him stumble for a second. This time his eyes became saucers. "Nasty? Me?"

The girl placed her hands on her hips. "I'm talking about the charm you used. Do you really want to be popular so badly? Only losers use spells like that. You must be an amateur, not even close to being a popular mage."

She turned away in a huff, not even bothering to stand around and let him explain. She managed to get several steps away before he managed any kind of recovery.

"W-Wait! Wait! You want to join Fairy Tail, right?"

That stopped her dead in her tracks. She slowly peered over her shoulder, eyes narrowed as she gazed at him cautiously. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Have you ever heard of Salamander? Fairy Tail's Salamander?"

The girl turned around a little, eyes opening. "Yes, of course I have. Everyone has heard of him by now. The rumor is that he is Fire Shadow's apprentice. Wait..."

She thought about what she knew of the man in front of her. After the charm spell was broken, he had signed his name as Salamander on a piece of paper that he gave to the pink haired boy. He had used a purple flame to float on as he left the scene too. It was purple... and it wasn't very hot either... but it was still a flame.

Since he signed his name as Salamander, plus the whole fire part, and Salamander was a member of Fairy Tail...

Wait.

"Ohmygosh! Are you one of the mages of Fairy Tail?" Her question was shouted in a piercing shriek, causing Salamander to wince slightly before he smiled and slowly nodded.

"Yes, I am. I can talk to the master if you're interested in joining."

The girl simply stared at him in open-mouthed shock for several seconds before promptly running up and pressing herself against his side, a big smile on her face.

"The party is going to be awesome, I just know it!"

Salamander gave an airy laugh, gently trying to push her away from him. "That's a little too obvious, you can stop."

Completely oblivious to anything he was saying, she moved to stand right in front of him, stars in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "Can I really join Fairy Tail?"

"Of course. Just don't tell anyone about the charm."

"Charm? What charm?" The girl gave a silly little laugh as she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"May I get your name, so that I can add it to the party guest list, and tell my master about you?"

"Huh? Oh! My name is Lucy!"

He nodded, and looked off into the distance for a moment. "Well Lucy my dear, it has been a pleasure. Hopefully I shall see you at the party tonight. It shouldn't be hard to spot when you get to the docks. Ta for now."

"You bet!" Lucy watched until she could no longer see Salamander's back, then something in her brain seemed to click back into awareness.

"Oh, crap! I must have fallen for some kind of pseudo-charm for a minute there!" Thinking about it, a smile slowly began to creep across her face. "But who cares! I'll just put up with him for a little while until I join Fairy Tail, then ignore him! Woohoo!"

* * *

"I'm back!"

"Oh, welcome back Natsu, Happy!"

Lucy quickly stepped inside, behind Natsu who was currently stomping on the ground as he walked up to someone that was pointing and laughing at him. Just as the door swung closed behind her, Natsu lifted up a foot and promptly smashed it into his unsuspecting victims face.

"You bastard! You lied to me! The information you gave me about Salamander was fake!"

The man he kicked in the face flew backwards and crashed into the backs of two others, who promptly turned and began throwing things from their table at Natsu. The pink haired teen simply swatted them out of the air, then let out a yell and charged at them. It didn't take much longer for others to start joining in.

Lucy stood there in awe, barely registering that Happy had his wings on and flew to somewhere near the back of the room. This was it... she had only seen it in pictures before. The guild hall of Fairy Tail. Her thoughts were interrupted as someone with dark hair shouted out close to her ear.

"Did someone say that Natsu is back? We still need to settle our fight from last time! Come get me, Natsu!"

There was a shout from somewhere in the middle of the fight, but someone else spoke up, causing Lucy to turn and look at the girl.

"Gray, are you seriously going to fight dressed, or should I say... undressed like that?"

"Huh? Oh... shit, not again!"

The woman sighed. "I usually don't mind, but in front of a guest? Come on, Gray."

Gray shook his head. "It can wait, Cana." Turning to see Natsu emerge from the growing pile of bodies, he promptly took off in that direction. "Natsu! I'm coming for you!"

"What rubbish."

Lucy stood up straight as a shadow loomed over her, then turned her head slowly to see a very tall man with white hair and a scar running from his cheek to just under his eye. She didn't know if he was making a general comment, but the scowl on his face didn't give the impression that whatever he was thinking about was pleasant.

Cana giggled, and Lucy watched wide-eyed as she grabbed a barrel filled with some kind of drink, then took a swig directly from the tap. Setting it down, she shot the tall man a grin. "Take it easy, Elfman. Everyone likes to cut loose now and then, and poor Gray has been bored out of his mind these past few days, even though he'd never admit it."

"Still. All this loud yapping in the middle of the day. They aren't little kids anymore. They need to let their fists do the talking, that's the manly way to handle things. Watch."

Elfman started lumbering towards the group, only do immediately get knocked to the ground as Natsu and Gray performed an amazing combo attack on him, right before throwing yet another punch at each other.

"Man, it's so noisy in here."

Lucy tore her eyes away from the still growing pile of unconscious bodies as another voice spoke up near her. As soon as she laid eyes on him, there was instant recognition. He had orange-blond hair, several piercings in his ears, and was wearing sunglasses inside.

"Ah! Loki! You're ranked as 'the mage women most want to have as their boyfriend' by Weekly Sorcerer, just beating out Fire Shadow! Though that's probably just because no one has ever seen his face and we don't know his real name..."

Loki tossed her a quick grin and was about to say something further, but two random girls came out of nowhere and immediately latched onto him. As they began squealing and cooing at him, he immediately blushed, then tried to act macho about going to join the fight.

Lucy swayed for a moment, stunned, then sat down on a nearby stool, her pristine view of her second favorite Fairy Tail mage ruined. He was nothing but a womanizer! She leaned forward, placing her face in her hands. "What's with these people? None of them are normal at all..."

"Is that a problem?"

The blond girl shot straight up in her seat, and looked to her left. Another girl was sitting on a stool next to her, and was giving her a small smile. She had white hair that was cut short in a bob, teal blue eyes, and a Fairy Tail guild insignia displayed prominently at the top of her left arm. As her eyes looked down towards the girl's lap, she noticed Happy was currently sitting there, in bliss, as the girl idly scratched behind his ears.

"N-No... it's not really a problem. It's just different."

"It's not so bad once you get used to it."

"Ah, Lisanna... you've greeted the visitor already?"

Lucy turned to her other side as another voice arrived behind her. Lisanna answered as a blush rapidly worked it's way across Lucy's face because of who the new voice belonged to.

"I did just now, Mira-nee. She seems to be shocked."

Mirajane covered her mouth with one hand as she giggled, then sat down on a stool at Lucy's other side. "I'm hardly surprised, most people have a hard time comparing what they know about Fairy Tail to what they see... especially when Natsu is around."

Lucy sat up straight again, mention of Natsu reminded her about the fight going on.

"Uhm, don't you guys need to stop the fight?"

Lisanna shook her head, but Mirajane replied, "This happens all the time really, besides..."

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as a bottle came flying through the air. One of Mirajane's hands shot up in the air just before it was about to reach her, and the bottle promptly shattered into pieces, landing on the floor around her.

"It is more fun this way, don't you think?"

Mirajane's head was tilted to the side a little as she offered Lucy a big smile, making the blond girl have a hard time comprehending the lightning fast reflexes she displayed when destroying the glass bottle compared to her rather carefree attitude. It didn't take long for both her and Lisanna to start giggling at Lucy's stunned face.

"Gaaaah!"

Lucy blinked as Gray went flying past her, crashing into a table, splitting it into pieces. Something at the back of her mind told her to turn away, but she kept looking anyway, and promptly blushed when the dark haired teen stood back up, wearing absolutely nothing. He must have felt the extra draft, however, as he quickly looked down and started yelping about missing his underwear.

Looking back and forth between Lisanna and Mirajane to see if either of them were offended like she was, she was further shocked to see both of them laughing like crazy. Happy was laughing as well, rolling around in circles on the floor and somehow getting rolled up in his own long tail as he did so, though he didn't seem to care.

Looking in front of her once again, she promptly covered her eyes as she realized Gray was standing right in front of her, completely nude.

"Ahh! Don't stand in front of me like that!"

"Look, I'm sorry. Do you think I could borrow your underwe-"

Lucy's fist promptly shot out and clobbered Gray, sending him flying back towards Natsu. "Hell no! Don't ask a lady something like that!"

Listening as Lisanna and Mirajane started laughing again as they gently pat her shoulders, Lucy huffed to herself, watching the fight grow more intense. Several people started glowing as they began to call on their magical abilities.

"Shouldn't someone... stop this before it gets out of hand?"

She heard Mirajane agree with her, but Lisanna simply giggled. Lucy turned to the other girl, eyebrow raised.

"What's funny?"

Lisanna simply pointed. "That."

Turning to look where the girl was pointing, she immediately found herself looking up towards the face of a... giant. Everything about it was concealed in darkness, except a scowling mouth revealing a lot of teeth, and scrunched up eyes glowing an ethereal white.

"You fools! What do you think you are doing?"

All activity in the guild hall stopped immediately. Most people started either shooting grins or scowling at each other, but everyone was offering hands to help people on the ground back to their feet.

"Oh, Master was here. I didn't even notice."

Lucy looked at Mirajane in surprise. This huge giant was the Guild Master of Fairy Tail?

"Hah! Look how everyone stopped! You bunch of weaklings, this is my wi-uurgh!"

Lucy shrieked as Natsu was promptly stomped on by the giant Guild Master. Next to her, Lisanna let out a sigh as she covered her face with her hand. She was going to ask Lisanna what was going on, but the Master's rumbling voice brought her attention back to the giant.

"Hrm... a newcomer?"

Lucy offered a timid wave, and stood up.

"U-Uhm... y-yes!"

"I see. Hrnnnnn..."

Lucy began to sweat as the scowl on the master's face turned into a grimace, but then to her amazement he began shrinking. He continued shrinking too, even after he had shrunk down to her height. By the time he was done, he was perhaps a little more than one third of her height, but that was it. The master had turned into a little old man.

He offered her a little grin and held a hand up in a wave. "Yo."

"H-Hi..."

Turning around, he jumped up onto the railing of the second floor. At first, she was amazed such a little guy could jump that high, but giggled with everyone else when he misjudged the jump, and smacked into the railing. Grumbling, he managed to grab it, and pull himself up on top.

Lucy listened carefully as he started explaining to members of the guild that he had recently gotten notice from the Mage Council about some of their more noteworthy escapades, and how bad the collateral damage had gotten. Looking around with a frown, she noticed that most people, especially the ones who's names and faces she recognized, seemed to be rather morose about the whole thing. During the conversation, she also noticed that Lisanna and Happy had both moved over to Natsu, and were helping him climb back to his feet.

The master continued speaking about the damage that had been caused, and eventually switched over to discussing what it meant to be a mage. Lucy had read many books about what a lot of people thought about what it meant to be a mage, but she'd never heard it directly from a mage's mouth, a Guild Master to boot. Even if he was talking down to the guild, she was completely engrossed in what he was saying.

It wasn't until he pretty much said that the council could go screw themselves at the end of his speech, and everyone in the guild hall began cheering, did she understand what Fairy Tail was really like. They did what they believed was right. Nothing more, nothing less.

She was snapped from her reverie as the master ignited the papers from the council that he was holding, and tossed them at Natsu, who promptly ate them. That was a sight she'd never get used to... watching someone _eat_ fire.

Mirajane waved as she walked by, apparently heading back to do whatever she was doing before Natsu started the fight. After waving back, Lucy looked around, to see Natsu and Lisanna heading her way, Happy flitting though the air behind them.

"So I hear Natsu saved you... Lucy, was it?"

Lucy immediately smiled, watching as Lisanna and Natsu sat down on the stools next to her. "Yep! Someone who was impersonating Natsu, calling himself Salamander; he tried to fool me, telling me that he could get me into Fairy Tail. But it was all a trick, he was trying to gather slaves. He almost got me, too, until Natsu arrived and kicked his ass. Though, um..." Lucy chuckled a little as she rubbed at the side of her head, "He kind of destroyed half of a port in the process."

Lisanna simply chuckled. "That sounds like my Natsu." She leaned over and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek, which he barely acknowledged before standing up and pointing.

"Ah! There he is! Gray, we didn't finish our fight!"

"No!" Lisanna grabbed Natsu's shoulder and slammed him back down onto his stool. He immediately winced and started rubbing around his backside.

"Ow! Comon', Lisanna! I still owe him."

"You can do that later. Get something to eat first, then rest and get your strength back."

Natsu's eyes immediately started shining. "Oh yeah! Food! Here I come!"

The pink haired teen shot like a rocket over towards the counter, and Lucy noticed that Mirajane was standing over there, manning the bar. Turning back to Lisanna, she watched as the other girl transformed her arm into something that looked like it was made of feathers, then cast a spell so that the broken table behind them somehow began to repair itself.

When it was done, Lisanna released the transformation on her arm, then turned to Lucy and grinned. "There we go, somewhere for Natsu to eat at now. What do you think of him, anyway?"

"Natsu? Well, he's nice. He helped me out when I really needed it. But he can be a bit... well... stupid about some things. He also apparently has a problem with various forms of transportation, poor guy."

Lisanna laughed and nodded. "Yep, that sounds like my husband."

Lucy's eyes became saucers. "Your h-husband?"

The white haired girl looked like she was thinking for a moment, but nodded. "Well, we aren't _officially_ married, but Naruto-niisan said we always act like we are... so we just went with it."

"Naruto... niisan? I don't recognize anyone by that name."

Lisanna gave Lucy a brilliant smile.

"He's the strongest mage in Fairy Tail!"

* * *

Naruto chuckled to himself as he flipped through the latest issue of Weekly Sorcerer. Once again, Claire had totally outdone herself. She had known his real name and who exactly was part of his 'team' for over a year now, but was still keeping it out of her articles. She claimed that it was because she owed him at least that much, giving her all of his exclusives and random items to hand out to his 'fan club'. Not only that, but since she had started writing her column about him and Fairy Tail, Weekly Sorcerer subscriptions had more than tripled. That alone so far garnered her two promotions and a large raise, so keeping the identities of him and his team a secret weren't that big of a deal. Besides, people liked the whole mystery factor about him.

The fact that Erza's front company owned the publisher of Weekly Sorcerer might have influenced her decision about keeping the secret if they needed more leverage, but they both felt that Claire didn't necessarily need to know right now. They trusted her enough to do what she said she would and wouldn't do.

Speaking of Erza, Naruto looked up from his table where he was seated at a cafe to where Erza was standing, watching as some of the locals decorated a huge horn from the _demon_ that they had subdued. It wasn't more than a large animal with a horn that had a penchant for breaking things, but it was a _big_ animal that could level a house when it charged, as it had done several times. The town paid well for the removal of the animal, and for some reason Erza felt like taking a trophy.

So when she left it in the middle of the town, the locals had started celebrating immediately. When she mentioned she would keep it as a trophy, they took it upon themselves to start decorating it with various ornaments.

Almost as if she could sense him looking, Erza turned to see Naruto gazing at her. She gave him a small smile, then turned to speak to one of the townspeople that was standing nearby. Naruto saw them nod, then she began walking briskly towards him.

It didn't take long for her to arrive. As soon as she sat down, he pushed a drink over towards her, one that he had ordered earlier while she was talking with the locals. With a smile she took it, no questions asked, and downed the entire thing in one gulp. Most people gave her funny looks whenever she did that, and Cana had even begged Erza to teach her once, but his girlfriend simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't have a gag reflex anymore thanks to Naruto."

_That_ comment got every one of the guys present in the guild hall at the time – _including Natsu_ - to give him envious looks, while most of the girls seemed unsure if they should look at him, Erza, or their own feet. Cana tried asking if she could borrow Naruto for a little bit, but before Erza could answer, Mirajane proceeded to hang all over him, causing Erza to forget all about what Cana had asked.

"So Natsu said he was going on a trip before we left, trying to hunt down Igneel again. Think he found him this time?"

Naruto snorted, sipping at what was left of his own drink. "No. He won't, either."

"I still think you should tell him."

Sighing, the blond leaned back in his chair, staring at his girlfriend. She simply stared right back. "If you want him to know so badly, then you tell him."

She looked away for a brief second before looking at him once again. Any time her eyes left his during an argument, he knew that he'd already won it. It was one of her little quirks that he'd picked up on. It also helped that they'd had this little argument before.

"I can't, that would mean I broke my promise to you that I wouldn't tell. I don't break my promises."

"I don't either, and we've already been over this a bunch of times before. I can't say anything until Igneel makes his presence known. I feel like crap every time I see Natsu and can't say anything to him."

It was Erza's turn to sigh as she leaned forward, propping her head up in her hands. As she moved forward, her eyes glanced down towards the magazine in front of Naruto.

"Is there a lot of Fairy Tail or other guild related news?"

"Huh? No... not really, other than some members causing too much collateral damage, as usual. Even Kyuubi didn't have any comments. Well, none other than he's bored because there hasn't been any bloodshed for a couple months now."

**Damn right.**

_Sorry._

**I don't believe you are for a second.**

_Well, I am, but it's not my fault that the mission boards have been relatively barren recently._

**You don't need a mission just to make _something_ bleed.**

_Perhaps not, but with a mission at least I know I'm making the right thing bleed._

**Tch. Soft.**

_Not as soft as-_

**I don't want to hear it. I'm going back to sleep.**

He was about to reply to Kyuubi until something soft impacted the side of his head.

"Wuh? Huh? Sorry... were you saying something?"

Erza rolled her eyes, pulling her hand back while offering an exasperated smirk. This was a quirk of Naruto's that she had gotten used to, sometimes when things were peaceful he would sort of space out and talk with Kyuubi. Somehow he managed to talk to Kyuubi in battle without being distracted, but she just chalked that one up to adrenaline or something like it.

"Anything about you or us, ohgreat one?"

"Oh!" Naruto chuckled, shaking his head as he pushed it over to her. "Just a small bit from Claire about our recent missions, where the next fan club meeting will be, and then the pictures from the photo shoot a month ago."

Erza's face adopted a slight pinkish hue as she opened the magazine to the middle. "How do they look?"

"You helped us pick which ones to put in the magazine. I thought they looked great, and still do."

The redhead 'hmmed' as she flipped through the first couple pictures, though Naruto swore he saw her blushing a bit harder. She had completely protested the thought of posing in a bikini for hundreds of thousands of people to see, but over the course of a few months, Mirajane, Naruto, and Claire had all managed to finally break her down.

Of course she was grumbling the entire time that Naruto just wanted a 'harem moment', and Mirajane was ever the willing participant. But after a while it seemed like she began to have a good time too, as evidenced by the final centerfold picture they agreed to use.

The centerfold picture that Erza was now looking at that was causing her to blush furiously.

"You look good in that picture."

Erza nodded slowly, but otherwise said nothing and didn't move at all. Naruto turned in his seat and leaned over slightly, so that his armored chest gently pressed against her armored shoulder. Releasing the catch on the lower part of his mask so that his mouth was exposed, he leaned in closer to her ear.

"I think you look _really, really_ good in that picture, actually."

That said, he used his tongue to lick along the back of her exposed ear. She shuddered, it was clearly visible, but it didn't take much longer for him to realize that she had placed a hand on his chest and was pushing him back into his chair.

"Not in public."

Naruto nodded, slowly, and with a sad sigh pushed the bottom of his mask up so that it latched back into place. He had tried some similar things before, but Erza was adamant about not having any public displays of affection. He supposed it was just her thing, and didn't really gripe about it. The one time he did ask about it, she looked distinctly lost and uncomfortable, and he didn't want to see that look again. Besides, it wasn't just him that she was tough on... she did it to everyone, even people she didn't know well. She would sometimes seem receptive of his attentions in the guild hall, especially if Mirajane was around, but otherwise she was cold as ice.

In private, however, it was a totally different matter. Those who knew him well and called him a stamina freak, well...

They obviously didn't know Erza.

Hearing the magazine flip closed loudly, Naruto looked towards his girlfriend, only to see her stand up quickly. Without a word, she grabbed his arm, pulled him to his feet, and started dragging him away from the cafe and down the street. Surprised, Naruto quickly tossed some money on the table before she pulled him too far.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"We're going back to the hotel."

Blinking, Naruto stared at the back of Erza's head as they walked swiftly. Her grip was like a vice on his forearm, there would definitely be no detours.

"A-Already? It's still the early afternoon, didn't you say that you still had some instructions to telegram to Trevor? The telegram office is the other way."

Erza's head shook a couple times. "I can do that later. Here."

She abruptly stopped, and Naruto barely managed to keep himself from crashing into her. Looking at her face, he noticed she was blushing slightly, then he glanced down to see what she was holding out at him.

They were his orange swim trunks.

"Uh... Erza... when did you get these?"

"I put them in my requip inventory before we left, they were in our laundry so it's not as if they were difficult to locate."

He was confused, but grabbed the swim trunks anyway.

"I brought my bikini from the photo shoot. I also reserved the pool on the top floor of the hotel for today, since we're heading back tomorrow. I was planning on only using it later this evening, but I changed my mind. Now come."

She had turned back around before she began talking, but was looking at him over her shoulder. Even though Erza couldn't see it, as she talked, the grin on Naruto's face was definitely growing... among other things.

Without a word, Naruto quickly tapped into his chakra and pushed it into his legs and feet, boosting him forward. Erza let out a small startled 'eep' as he scooped her off the ground then shot forward quickly towards their hotel.

"I thought that might get you moving." Naruto absolutely adored that little smug grin she was giving him.

"What can I say? You know how to push all the right buttons."

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

_Mage Council Classification:_ S-Rank, registered  
_Notes:_ The only mage in Fairy Tail to not fail a single mission after 3 and 1/2 years of activity. Name submitted by Makarov Dreyar as potential Wizard Saint candidate after long-term mission completion. Combat Stages listed below. _See Fairy Tail Guild Archives, Section XXII, Row VI 'Release and Vanquish' for more information on status.__  
_

_Stage Zero:_ Only utilizes martial combat skills - fists, feet, kunai knives, shuriken, and short sword.  
_Stage One:_ Magical powers, most are nature-oriented, often supplemented by heavy solid clone usage._ See Era Council Archives, Section VI, Row II 'Shadow Clones' for more information._  
_Stage Two:_ Demonic energy cloak covers his body, control given to Kyuubi no Youko.  
_Stage Three:_ Version One - Scarlet Demon Cloak, demonic energy usage, Naruto in control through all 'versions'. Version Two - Bones form, reminiscent of a fox, providing extra offensive and defensive capabilities. Version Three - Full fox form, Naruto's body can only handle the full force of Kyuubi's power and 'hatred' for about five to ten minutes before he succumbs to unconsciousness.  
_Stage Four:_ Naruto has remarked about becoming a 'Sage', but exactly what it entails he has not clarified, nor has it been seen. He still claims there are even stages beyond his 'Sage' capabilities. Incredible. _See Era Council Archives, Section XXVII, Row I 'Fire Shadow - Naruto Uzumaki' for updates._

_Member Since:_ October 21st, 782 (3 years, 7 months, 2 weeks)  
_Age:_ 20  
Solo Missions: 751  
Team Missions: 332  
S-Rank Missions: 41  
SS-Rank Missions: 4

_Reward to Date:_ 3,346,227,866 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** I've left this fic rated as T, I don't think that this chapter is what I'd call over the top explicit, though admittedly it may come rather close. Everything is left obscure for a reason, though it's not too hard to guess what's going on. In all honesty, I doubt it's much different than what you'd witness on a daytime soap, just imagine the camera is focused on Naruto's face most of the time. *shrug* Anyway, the lime in this chapter is likely as heavy as it's ever gonna get, it's also doubtful that there will be much happening on the romantic front in the future.

The poll has closed as well. There were a whopping 245 unique voters, thanks to everyone who offered their two cents. It looks like Team Red Twilight wins - I guess that's Naruto's way of flipping the bird to Red Dawn (Akatsuki). Then there is also that old saying, I know the sailors version - 'Red Sky in the Morning, Sailors Take Warning. Red Sky at Night, A Sailor's Delight.' So good for Naruto and his team... which consists of him and Erza, at the moment.

_Edolas Naruto_ - There will be one. As for an Earthland version of Naruto - he exists, but he is probably just a regular civilian somewhere in the dimension and won't make an appearance.

_Canon/Time Skip Redux_ - As shown, it has arrived!

_Erza/Mirajane Conversation Flashback_ - I doubt I'll show one. I pretty much stated what happened, and that was really it. It just took a little while for Mirajane to explain the whole thing.

_Naruto Non-Lethal Force _- For clarification purposes, since I left his timing vague on purpose, Naruto was present to hear Lisanna call The Beast 'Big Brother', and she was holding her arms up in a hugging gesture. That was enough for the pieces to click in Naruto's mind about what happened, especially since Makarov warned him about what Elfman might try when he was being briefed.

_Naruto and Erza_ - No one specific thing happened that made them fall in love. Just over time it kind of happened. Erza looks up to Naruto, and fell in love with the type of person he is - selfless, courageous, and helps anyone who needs it. Naruto adores Erza's strong will, how she isn't afraid to speak her mind, and her belief in her friends. After getting to know each other for two years of working together, it was just a nice, natural progression.

_Returning Home_ - Erza is well aware of his desire, and yes... it will cause problems down the road. Probably not in a way anyone is expecting, though.

_Sequel Hint_ - No one will be added to the current pairing, though that isn't to say Naruto can't become close with anyone, or some may try to get closer to him than he feels comfortable with. No more relationships of a high level are planned, but more of a 'best friend/trusting partner' type, like Naruto had with Erza before her confession.


	13. She Gives You Inside Information

Chapter 13

"So, do you think anything has changed since we've been gone?"

Erza turned to look at him briefly, then looked back in the direction they were walking and gave a small shrug. "It's only been a little over a week, and Master didn't send us any emergency messages. Why, were you hoping for something?"

Naruto simply chuckled, stretching, then placed both hands behind his head as they walked. "Not really. It's just nice to have things happen that spice up life now and then, you know?"

"So our little trip wasn't spicy enough for you?"

The dangerous undertone in her voice immediately put Naruto on edge. "That's not what I meant at all. I was referring to things about the guild. You keep my life plenty interesting, and I love you for it."

Erza let out something like a contented hum, and they continued walking further down the streets of Magnolia Town towards the Fairy Tail guild hall. Out of the corner of his eyes, Naruto noticed his girlfriend shift the large horn she was carrying over to her other hand.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry it again?"

"I'm fine, thank you, though. I'm going to leave it in the guild for now anyway, until you can apply those shrinking seals on it."

"I can go stop by an-"

A loud yell caused him to stop talking and he focused on a person ahead of them just as they turned around and quickly started running away.

"What was that about?"

"I'm not sure." Erza turned her head to look at him, "You were saying?"

"Oh! I was going to say that I can go home really quick to get those seals now, and just meet you back at the guild?"

She gave him a brief smile and a nod, "I'd appreciate it. It will be the only way we can get it in the front door of the house anyway."

Naruto grinned inwardly as he thought about her last comment. He had only briefly mentioned his home, but recently Erza had begun remarking that she felt it was her home now as well. It made him feel warm, deep down.

Shifting slightly, Naruto moved a little closer to her as they walked so that his arm brushed against hers. He quickly grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

"I'll meet you at the guild then. I'm going to go ahead and change out of this outfit at home before I arrive."

Her head turned slightly as she murmured acknowledgment, then quickly squeezed his hand before walking off a little faster, breaking their brief contact. He was only a little saddened that she broke away so quickly, her phobia of public displays of affection always left him feeling that way, but he figured that he'd grow accustomed to it eventually. It _did_ help him keep his identity a secret, so he couldn't begrudge it too much.

Watching her continue walking towards the guild hall for a few more moments, he found himself frowning for some reason when he realized that she never looked back towards where they split apart - not even once. Quickly squashing that feeling, he knew it was childish of him to think that she should have... even if she probably would have a week ago.

Erza was obviously quite distracted about something on their way back to the guild, but every time Naruto asked if anything was wrong she just shook her head and said she felt that she was thinking about something she overheard briefly in a bar. Naturally he offered to help her remember, but she just gave him a small smile and said she had already sent an investigation request through her business. That was two days ago, and while he hadn't brought it up since then, he knew how her company operated well enough to believe that she probably got a response the same day, yesterday at the latest.

Naruto's lips formed a tight line behind his mask, then he promptly flashed away towards his house.

* * *

"Erza is back!"

Lucy first blinked, immediately recognizing the name. Her moment of clarity was quickly clouded, however, upon noticing the pained expression on the face of Loki... who had just run out of the guild hall after trying to seduce her then immediately run away.

Quickly adding to her confusion was the panicked looks of Natsu and Gray, who went from fighting to standing upright, completely rigid – then promptly breaking out into their own shouts of panic.

No more than two minutes later, heavy footsteps could be heard from the entrance of the guild. Turning to look, Lucy's eyes became saucers as the redheaded Erza Scarlet walked in. She took a moment to bask in the presence of the older, more glamorous woman... then looked at what she was holding. It was a huge... horn, of some sort. Its size either belied its weight, or Erza was just really, really strong.

"I'm back. Is Master here? I have a question for him."

Lucy vaguely heard someone near her reply to Erza's question as she focused on exactly how the armored woman spoke. Her voice was deeper than she was expecting, but for some reason it seemed to fit her really well. It was definitely commanding, even after only hearing her speak briefly, and it was becoming easy to understand how some might respect her just because of the way she seemed to carry herself.

"Oh, this? The local townspeople decorated the horn of a demon that I helped subdue. No worries, I won't leave it here." Erza turned to look at someone nearby, who must have asked her what the horn was. "Is it a nuisance to leave it here? It won't be here for very long."

The person quickly waved their hands, saying it wasn't a problem at all, but before they had even finished talking Erza turned away and cleared her throat. If anyone wasn't focusing on her for some reason previously, they were now.

"Anyway, I've been hearing and reading things about a lot of you... causing trouble for Master yet again. I've known several of you for a long time, and the longer these troubles continue, the harder I find it to forgive you for what you're doing."

Lucy listened, shivering slightly as Erza started dressing down various guild members one by one. The biggest shock of all was seeing Natsu and Gray acting like best friends in front of her. Not only that, but Natsu had started talking like Happy!

Hearing a sigh next to her, Lucy turned her head to see Lisanna standing nearby, arms folded over her chest and a small frown on her face. She must have noticed Lucy turn to look at her, because she looked at the other girl and smiled after a second.

"It's not usually like this all the time, I swear."

Lucy was trying to smile back, but simply let out a halfhearted laugh. "R-Really? That's good... all these things going on, I don't know if my heart can take it. I haven't been here that long yet."

Lisanna was about to say something else, before two loud yells muffled her voice. Both of them turned to look where the voices came from, only to see Natsu and Gray staring at Erza, expressions of disbelief on their faces. A large portion of the guild had gone quiet, only for hushed murmurs to pick up immediately after.

"No way, did she really ask that?"

"Those three? I never thought I'd see the day that happened."

"I thought she already has one, though?"

"Well this is interesting," Mirajane was smirking as she stepped closer, between Lucy and Lisanna. "I wonder if it's just going to be those three that team up, or if Naruto-kun will be going with them?"

Lisanna looked towards her sister. "If Naruto-niisan goes with them, then they'll be the strongest team in Fairy Tail by far. But if he doesn't?"

Mirajane chuckled and shook her head, her hands placed on her hips. "Naruto-kun would have to be on their team for them to be the strongest. That goes without saying."

Lisanna hummed to herself for a second before nodding, "Hmm... true."

Lucy simply rubbed at her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Okay, okay... wait. You two keep talking about this Naruto guy. I've been reading about Fairy Tail for years, and I've never seen any publication mention anyone named Naruto. Is there someone even stronger than Fire Shadow?"

Lisanna and Mirajane looked at each other, then back at Lucy before they both broke out into fits of giggles simultaneously.

"Hey! What's so funny?"

Lisanna tried to suppress her giggles, waving her hand at the frowning girl as she took a couple deep breaths, "I'm sorry, Lucy... don't take it personally. It's just been so long since we've had someone join us, so we're not used to people not knowing."

The silver-haired girl looked like she was about to say more, but a small flash of gold and a light breeze kicked up nearby, with a deep masculine voice following not long after.

"Sheesh, who's been talking about me? I was sneezing nonstop at home."

As Lucy turned to where the voice was coming from, she stopped and looked at Lisanna again when the girl let out a squeal and simply _pounced_. Turning to follow the trajectory of the flying girl, her eyes went wide as she caught a glance of... _him_.

Fire Shadow laughed from behind his mask, expertly caught the flying Lisanna and proceeded to twirl her about a couple times as both of them laughed. When they stopped and he set her down on her feet, she began talking to him animatedly as Lucy looked on. Curious, she turned to look at Mirajane, who was looking at the two with a small smile.

"Uh... what's up with those two? Lisanna seems to be the most normal of everyone here."

Mirajane looked at Lucy briefly, offering a larger smile before turning back to look at her sister and Fire Shadow. "Naruto saved Lisanna's life a while back, and ever since she's looked to him as another brother."

Lucy nodded at first, but then it finally clicked, and her eyes became saucers. "W-wait! F-Fire Shadow... his... his name is Naruto?"

Mirajane didn't answer, however, as she had moved over to where her sister and Naruto were chatting. Lucy had to do a double-take as she realized Fire Shadow had since removed his mask, and he was... _hot_. She idly watched as Mirajane welcomed him back, then gave him a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, which he returned – then she wandered off back towards the bar.

The shock of this revelation was still going through her when Lisanna quickly moved back over to her, grabbed her arm, and forcefully tugged her over towards where Fire Shadow was looking at her curiously.

"Naruto-niisan! I'd like you to meet Lucy! She just joined us while you were on vacation. Natsu and Happy helped her break up a slave gang."

Naruto's eyebrows raised slightly upon hearing just how she came to join Fairy Tail, but quickly settled down as he offered her a big smile, causing the markings on his face to stretch. "Hey there, Lucy. Welcome to Fairy Tail. I hope nothing has caused you to go crazy yet."

Lucy was standing ramrod straight, blushing and sweating. "N-n-no! Everything has b-been fine! Really... really fine!"

The girl gulped audibly as one of Naruto's eyebrows arched upwards, and he appeared ready to say something else until Lisanna gently hit him on the arm.

"Naruto-niisan! You're scaring her!"

Naruto looked flabbergasted, holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "B-But I'm not doing anything!"

Lisanna stuck her tongue out at him briefly, then draped an arm around Lucy's neck, causing the girl to settle down a little. "Silly. It's not every day a girl in her prime meets the strongest mage in Fairy Tail, and not only that, he's the best looking one too."

"L-Lisanna!" Naruto had a slight blush working across his face, and appeared to be rather surprised to hear Lisanna say something like that.

"What? It's true. Just don't tell Natsu, Mira-nee, or Erza that I said so." She giggled for a moment as Naruto chuckled and scratched at the back of his head, but then whirled on Lucy again, "Oh yeah! Are you a member of his fan club, because if you aren't we have to get you signed up!"

This time Naruto groaned, but it managed to bring Lucy back to her senses. Her disposition immediately brightened, and she pulled her pin out of the pouch she kept around her waist, near her keys. "Yep! Here it is! I got so lucky to have such a small number!"

Lisanna was wowed, it showed on her face. "That's impressive, you really are lucky to get one that low and not have been part of a guild."

Lucy blinked, "What? Did the guilds get to become members before?"

Lisanna giggled, pulling a pin out of a pocket of her shorts. "Yep!" She flashed the pin at Lucy, who stared, mouth agape.

"Number three? That's so lucky!"

Lisanna shrugged, pocketing her pin. "As members of the same guild Naruto-niisan was in, we were given the option of becoming his first fans, if we wanted to."

Lucy vaguely heard Naruto mumble something about 'embarrassing', before a thought popped into her mind.

"So wait... if you're number three, then who is number one?"

"That... would be me."

Lucy whirled around, only to see a mouth set into a firm line. Looking down, she only noticed a metal breastplate, and looking up slightly, she saw the eyes of Erza Scarlet gazing down upon her.

"O-oh. Um... hi!"

Erza's mouth twitched upwards into a smile, before nodding slightly and moving around Lucy, her attention now centered on Naruto. She stopped a little over a step away from him, folding her arms over her chest.

"Did you bring it?"

Naruto nodded at her, smiling slightly. "Of course."

Erza smiled again, a little bigger than before, then turned back to Lucy who had been following the exchange.

"I saw your keys, I'm assuming that means you are a Celestial mage?"

"Ah... yes, I am." Lucy was beginning to sweat again, hoping that Lisanna would come to her defense again if she needed it. But it seems the silver-haired girl had wandered off to talk with Natsu and Gray, the former of which who was gesticulating wildly.

"That's good, we haven't had a Celestial Mage in Fairy Tail for a long time. I'd like to see how well you handle yourself in action, so I'll be bringing you with us on our next mission. You should prepare yourself and pack enough supplies for about a week."

As Lucy simply blinked and began to stutter, she heard Naruto utter Erza's name.

"What?" She turned to look back at him again, but he simply gave her a flat stare. They both stared at each other for several long seconds before Erza sighed, then turned her gaze to Lucy once again.

"Fine... would you be willing to come with us? With only Natsu and Gray coming, I could use another female to even things out. Not only that, but I really would like to see what you are capable of."

Lucy blinked again, slightly surprised at actually being asked to go along this time, but slowly nodded her head.

Erza clapped her hands together, offering a small smile. "Great! We leave later this afternoon, so meet back up here when you're ready."

"Oh... so Luigi is coming with us too?"

Lucy immediately whirled on Natsu, who had walked over as Erza finished talking. "It's Lucy! My name is Lucy! You should know that by now!"

"It is? Oh." Natsu simply stared at her for a few seconds, blank-faced, but briefly grinned and winked before turning back to Erza. "Hey, hey... why don't we bring Lisanna too?"

The redhead shrugged. "You can ask, but because of her support abilities she's usually always tapped for missions already."

"Whoo! Thanks, I'll go ask!" Natsu immediately scampered off to go find Lisanna, while Naruto began chuckling.

Both Erza and Lucy looked at him, the former asking the obvious question, "What's so funny?"

Naruto simply shook his head as his chuckles settled down, but kept the smile on his face. "Nothing important. When do we leave?"

Lucy barely noticed as Erza tensed for a moment, then the redhead sighed again and shook her head.

"You're not coming."

She couldn't be sure, but to Lucy it felt as if the temperature had dropped several degrees where she was standing. Naruto wasn't smiling anymore, but he didn't exactly look angry either. His lips were in a tight line and his eyes were narrowed slightly, however.

"May I ask why?"

"I feel as if I've been neglecting to give any attention to Natsu and Gray for a while, I want to see how they have grown. I also want to see Lucy's capabilities. If you come along, we will all use you as a crutch and allow you to do the hardest parts, which I know you will volunteer to do."

Naruto had closed his eyes as he listened, and when Erza finished talking he let out a small sigh and nodded. "Fine. I've been putting off my visit to Era anyway, I guess this is a good time to get it done."

His eyes opened slowly. "I'll miss you."

Erza let out a small chuckle and walked up to him. "Aww, it will only be for a week. You'll survive. We've been apart longer."

Lucy stared, mouth agape and blushing, as Erza moved up to Naruto to give him a brief kiss on the lips. Without saying anything else, she turned around and saw Lucy, giving the girl what she felt was a rather predatory smile.

It didn't take long for her to feel Erza's hand on her shoulder, turning her in another direction, and then the redhead's arm settled across her shoulders as they began walking towards the exit together.

"Ah Lucy. We'll get to know each other over the course of this next mission, but before that... allow me to lay down some ground rules, okay?"

The blond girl was sweating as she looked up slightly towards Erza's face, the woman still had that predatory grin, and her eyes were shadowed by her hair.

She couldn't do anything more than gulp and nod nervously as she was led away.

* * *

Naruto sat in what he felt was a rather uncomfortable wooden chair in one of the secure file rooms of the Mage Council in Era. As an S-Ranked mage, they had a responsibility every couple of months to report in on their completed missions, as well as being able to take on any potential higher level missions that the Mage Council itself may not want to give specifically to any guilds.

Of course, along with the rather minor responsibilities also came a few privileges, one of which he was using now. Certain files were off-limits to most mages, though most likely wouldn't bother looking through a bunch of pieces of paper either. Naruto was often curious as to how much he was being observed, however, so whenever he got the chance he would check out his own file to see what was being said about him – especially if there was anything different from what was in his file back at Fairy Tail.

Typically there wasn't, though he had been caught by surprise a few times, especially as of late – it seems that he had begun to be monitored a lot more recently. At first it didn't bother him too much, but when he was given an entire file of his own instead of being kept with the rest of Fairy Tail, he began to wonder.

**You've had another three pages added to your file since the last time we were here. They really are paying attention to you now, aren't they?**

_I don't like it, but I guess it's only natural. When you have someone as powerful as I – and we – are, then it only makes sense._

**Hrmph. I still don't see why you don't take steps to let everyone know who's in charge. It's been _years_, and I'm getting bored again.**

_Well according to Makarov, he thinks the mission he gave me long ago will be initiated soon, and it also feels like there is a certain buzz in the air. Something tells me things are going to start picking up._

**They'd better, or I'll-**

_Do you get a kick out of giving me empty threats?_

**Tch. Just you wait, Naruto. Now... someone is coming.**

_I know. I feel it._

Placing his feet up onto the chair next to him, Naruto leaned back and pretended to casually flip through his own file, skimming through most of the stuff he'd already looked through. The presence he sensed stopped and hovered for a few moments not too far away from him, as if trying to confirm who was in the room, or trying to think of something to say as a greeting. After the first few moments of sensing the presence, Naruto knew who it was by just how they felt.

There were very few people who were able to conceal the sheer amount of power they possessed to such a degree, but years of honing his own chakra detection abilities allowed him to more easily identify those who were trying to hide themselves. It was something all shinobi learned, though there were a few who excelled in the field of detection to such a degree they had a classification of their own – sensors. He wasn't one, but after being around people who could utilize chakra – magic to them – to a large degree and not be able to hide it, he eventually figured out how to manipulate his own detection senses to a much finer degree.

A brief thought passed through his mind to put his mask on, but since everyone important in Era already knew who he was – and no one unimportant could get into this room – he decided against it.

"Fancy meeting you here Ultear. Or should I say, fancy meeting you here _again_?"

There was a moments hesitation before soft footsteps grew louder, until the dark-haired woman finally appeared from around a stack of cabinets, tossing him a brief, coy smile. The only real difference between their meeting up now compared to previous times is that they were both alone. Naruto was usually here with Erza, and Ultear was typically always with her immediate superior, Siegrain.

"To be fair, I don't believe we've ever met in this room before. On another note, you're going to have to teach me how you're able to detect me. Not only would it help me do my job better, I just think it would be handy to know as well."

Naruto snorted as he flipped through a few more pages. "Sorry, can't do that. It's a trade secret."

Ultear chuckled lightly, and Naruto looked up from the papers to watch her as she pulled out a chair next to the one he had his feet raised onto, then sat down.

"Did Siegrain let you off your leash or something? It's not exactly like there is anything going on in here."

Ultear frowned at him. "That's not very nice, but since we're on the subject I'm assuming that means Erza let you off your leash as well?"

One of Naruto's eyebrows shot sky-high. "Well... I never really looked at it like that, but for the sake of not getting into a boring argument, touché."

Ultear folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, a smile slowly returning to her face. "I guess your words do have a hint of truth to them, though as a Mage Council Inspector placed under Siegrain, I still have a fair amount of freedom so long as he doesn't need anything specific."

Naruto didn't say anything in response to that, but 'hmmed' as he switched back to looking at his profile once again. He didn't want to act callous to the woman, but he didn't particularly care for Siegrain, and he couldn't help but place his disdain upon her as an extension since she worked for him.

"So where is Erza anyway? I think this is the first time I've ever seen you in Era without her being here as well."

The blond shrugged. "Well, we are a team, and we'd just come here to report in every couple months to do our reports. I've been here plenty of times without her, but you likely only noticed the times where I was with her because Siegrain seems to have this thing about annoying her as best he can. As for where she is, I honestly don't know. She wanted to do a mission with some of her old friends in the guild for a change, so I wasn't going to intrude."

"That's sweet of you. But how does Siegrain annoy her, if you don't mind me asking? It always appeared as if their talks were... amicable." Ultear's voice was laced with curiosity, but he wasn't sure if she was mocking him or not in regards to the sweet part. Because of the overall tone of her voice, Naruto looked up from the papers again, only to find her watching him intently.

"She usually avoids talking about it, but after talking with him she'll be in a bad mood all the way back to the guild, and no amount of prodding on my part can get any information out of her. Eventually I just stopped asking."

"I see... so that's why..." Ultear's voice began to drift off, and Naruto watched and waited for her to continue, but she had closed her eyes and looked as if she was in deep thought. Not feeling like disturbing her any, he instead rose to his feet with his file in hand and moved to place it back where he got it from.

As he was placing it back in the cabinet, he heard Ultear begin to talk once again."On another matter, have you been wondering why your file has been updated so much recently?"

"Yes, but why? Or were you volunteering the information anyway? I figured it was because of my mission completion rate. I haven't looked at Erza's file, I'd assume it's the same for her."

"Not really. While your amount of success has brought you some attention from the Council, Siegrain has taken a special interest in you lately, and he's had me observing you a lot. Not that I can complain, you _are_ fun to watch."

Naruto turned to look at her after replacing his file, noting that she had stood up as well and was standing barely a few steps away from him now, observing him intently.

"I can't imagine I'm all that interesting."

She chuckled slightly, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I'll admit things have been a little slow lately, though it looked like you enjoyed your vacation."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I did. It was a nice change of pace. I was wondering if that really was your presence I felt.

Ultear grinned at him, shrugging slightly. "If you did see me, it means I wasn't doing my job properly. I'm impressed that you could sense something, considering how far away I was most of the time. But it is a good thing you enjoyed that vacation, because I'm rather certain things are going to be getting crazy soon."

"You sure are offering a lot of information to me. Is there something you're going to want?"

Ultear took the few steps that closed the distance between them, but stopped next to him, so that her shoulder was brushing his. Turning her head to look at him, she began to whisper, "Maybe. Let me plant an idea in your head, and we'll see how it works out, hm?"

Naruto could feel his spine start to tingle. He didn't like the way that the Inspector was looking at him. "If it's something within reason, I'll consider it. I can't promise you more than that."

She gave him what he interpreted as a sweet smile, it was one he had never seen from her before. "Fair enough. As a small favor to you, I'll tell you that Siegrain is planning something big – I'm sure you be notified somehow as soon as it starts. I would tell you more, but... I still do have loyalty to him as my superior, if for no other reason. Besides that, if you're too prepared, then it won't be any fun to watch."

Naruto's eyebrow raised, but he said nothing. Taking that as a cue of his understanding, one corner of Ultear's mouth twitched upwards before she continued.

"When he first told me of this plan of his, I laughed at him. But then he showed me how powerful he really was, and I was fairly well convinced that he'd be able to pull it off. But then along came Fire Shadow. Now... I know it will fail."

"W-What? How do you know it wi-"

Naruto's eyes shot wide open when Ultear silenced him by placing two of her fingers over his lips, giving him another one of those rare smiles. "I know it will fail because I believe you are stronger than he is, and from my observations I know you will not sit idly by while he puts his plan into effect. When it does fail, there will be an open spot on the Council that will likely need to be filled. I think you would do well as a temporary replacement, if not eventually a permanent one. All I ask in return for this information is that when the time comes, you at least consider accepting the position. Well?"

"How can you guarantee it will be offered to me?"

Ultear's demeanor changed in such a way to make it seem like she was teasing him, one corner of her lips twitching up slightly as her eyes squinted. "Trust me."

Keeping his mouth shut, Naruto's eyes closed briefly as he slowly nodded his head.

**What? Seriously? Another one of your species offers you a way to gain power through potentially devious means and you aren't immediately turning it down? Someone pinch- oh! Ohhhh... I see what you did there.**

_Quiet, Kyuubi. I'm thinking_

"Ahh, you've made me a happy woman." Ultear pressed her two fingers to her lips, then pressed them against Naruto's cheek, causing him to involuntarily lean back a bit. Unperturbed, Ultear continued talking, "That's all I can say for now, but I'll be in touch with you soon with a few details the next time I go out on an Inspection detail so you can... prepare. Oh, and be so kind as to not mention this to anyone, especially not Makarov Dreyar. I'd hate to have to read about this little meeting in a report."

"If this brings harm to anyone in Fairy Tail, I won't do whatever it is you're suggesting."

Ultear simply grinned at him, lightly patting his forearm as she began to walk away. "Nothing will happen to Fairy Tail during the course of this so long as they don't put themselves in the way. But that's all I can guarantee; I'm sure you know how free-spirited they can be."

Her eyes fluttered closed before she opened them once again, looking at Naruto briefly. "I'm afraid I must leave for now, Siegrain is summoning me."

Without another word shared between them, Ultear walked back the way she came, and Naruto listened to her footsteps as they gradually got lighter.

_I wonder if I should follow through with this._

**I don't know why you wouldn't. For once, everything seems incredibly right.**

_That's precisely why I think it's wrong. I'm supposed to be watching for things like this. It didn't quite happen the way I was preparing for it to... hell, I don't like this whole situation, but on top of that..._

**Don't leave a demon hanging, out with it!**

_She didn't feel right._

**I didn't see you touch her, unfortunately.**

_Not like that! I meant her chakra... her magic core. I already know she's powerful, but something felt... off. Almost as if there was something that was letting her power show through, but blocking it as well._

**Where you come from I thought shinobi did that all the time?**

_Not in the same way, she wasn't hiding it. It's almost like her power was muffled. Bah, it's too hard to explain._

**Yeah, you're right. I'm bored already. Let's go kill this Siegrain guy and take his Council seat.**

_You don't seriously think they'd give me his seat after I kill him, do you?_

**Maybe, maybe not. Never know until you try. If they don't, kill them all, and give the other seats to your minions.**

_Not this again..._

**What? You should be used to it by now!**

* * *

"Naruto."

Halting his march towards the exit, the blond pivoted his frame to turn around and look over his shoulder, where the voice came from.

"Ah, Siegrain. I'm sorry, but I don't have Erza with me today."

Siegrain chuckled briefly as Naruto turned around to face the blue haired mage with the facial tattoo under his right eye – in fact, the man was completely identical to Mystogan physically. Their only differences were that Mystogan was a recluse and you literally had to beg for him to talk, whereas Siegrain loved to talk and lapped up all the attention he could get.

If he didn't know that Mystogan was from another dimension, he would easily have mistaken them for the same person.

"I know she isn't here, I actually wanted to talk to you for a moment, if you have the time."

Naruto shrugged, "Sure, I've got time. I wasn't going to do anything but head back to Fairy Tail anyway.

Siegrain nodded. "I see, well this works out then. I have a message that the Council needs you to deliver to the meeting spot of the Masters. I believe it's somewhere in Clover Town, at the end of the train tracks going southwest."

The Council member pulled a sealed envelope out of his vest, and stretched his arm out to hand it to Naruto. The blond accepted it, tucking it inside a pocket of his own Fairy Tail vest.

"Will I be able to make it there in time?"

Siegrain shrugged nonchalantly. "The meeting should still be going on for another couple of days. Other than perhaps myself, you're the fastest mage in Fiore. I think you'll have plenty of time."

"Very well. Is there anything else?"

The blue haired man was quiet for a moment, looking down at his feet briefly before looking up at Naruto again. "Yes, actually. I'm curious... what is Erza to you?"

Surprised at not only the question, but also how bluntly it was asked, Naruto simply stared at Siegrain for a few moments before he found his voice and was able to reply.

"We... are partners on a team. She's probably my best friend. We spar on a fairly regular basis if neither of us is on a mission, either as a team or solo. But I think you'd already know all of that, wouldn't you? It should be in our files."

"Everything you said is, yes. I want to know how you personally feel about Erza."

Naruto blinked rapidly, processing this request. Why would Siegrain want, or even need to know, other than to harass Erza even more?

"Is there a reason behind why you're asking? From all the times you've talked to Erza when we had to stop in Era, I'm surprised you didn't ask her then."

Siegrain smiled, but it held no warmth. "She refuses to talk about you in front of me. That alone lets me know that she feels strongly for you, as a friend or otherwise. I used to be a very good friend to Erza a long time ago, which is why I want to make sure you are doing right by her."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, and he placed one hand on his hip, shifting his weight slightly. "Not that I really think it's any of your business, but we are on a very successful team together, and we trust each other with our lives. I think that should suffice as an explanation."

Siegrain's lips morphed from the cold smile into a thin, compressed line. "Very well, I guess it wouldn't be polite for me to pressure you too deeply on the matter. The fact that you both refuse to give me a straight answer leads me to believe there is more going on than meets the eye. I hope, for your sake, that you treat her well."

"Is that a threat?"

"Take it however you will. We are old friends. I am interested in her well-being. Nothing more, nothing less."

Naruto tried his best to keep his pose neutral, but Siegrain was pissing him off. It wasn't easy. "Fine. Is that all?"

Siegrain snorted, then waved his hand. The man promptly disappeared from sight without a trace immediately after.

_Tch, mental projection. I wouldn't have hit him even if I had swung at him, if he didn't want me to._

**So, you are going to kill him and take his seat on the Council, right?**

_If I can find a way to do it without killing him, then yes. He doesn't deserve death just because he's a nosy ass._

**You may not have a choice, though that female from earlier made it sound like he was going to lose his seat anyway if you win at... whatever it will be. I hope it will be a bloodbath.**

_What else is new?_

* * *

_The following night..._

"W-What is that? It's huge!" Lucy was so startled that she took a step backwards, only to trip over her own feet and fall on her rear.

"Ahh! We're dead!" Happy quickly ran around Lucy, cowering and shaking behind the now-seated girl.

"Uuuahhh! I'm starving! I can smell some tasty souls nearby. I'm gonna eat them all!" A giant monster made of warped looking wood casually surveyed the area around it, clenching and releasing it's clawed hands slowly. Just a moment ago that monster had been a small flute called Lullaby... something caused it to change into the demon before them.

Lucy's attention snapped over to Natsu when he let out a yell, then tossed Gray an absurd question, "Souls are edible? Are they tasty too?"

Not paying attention to whatever Gray's response might have been, she instead turned her focus towards the Guild Master, Makarov, who was standing next to her with a pensive look on his face. Several Masters of other guilds were also standing nearby.

"T-That's a demon, right? How... how could it come out of a regular flute?"

Makarov closed his eyes and sighed, "The devil was the flute. It was given a life by living magic... something only Zeref could do. That's probably why the flute had its own name, Lullaby."

"Living magic?"

Makarov nodded and looked off to the distance, Lucy followed his gaze to see Erza and Gray prepare an attack against the demon.

"Living magic is something that gives life to inanimate objects. Zeref usually chose to use the souls of demons when he gave life to the objects. It is one of the reasons why he was so feared. The flute was a leftover artifact from long ago."

The small group watched as Erza and Natsu started performing combination attacks, but a swipe from one of the devil's large claws forced them to break off. The moment they were out of the way, Gray sent a few large blasts of ice flying at the creature.

It merely swatted them away, then proceeded to attempt a counterattack as large bursts of demonic-looking energy shot out of its mouth. Gray managed to create a barrier shield, blocking the attack while simultaneously garnering comments of amazement by many of the other Masters about his speed at creating the ice.

Lucy watched with rapt attention as the three members of Fairy Tail continuously rained blows upon the huge demon, which was getting slower after every attack. Finally they all managed to land fairly powerful coordinated attacks upon the demon, and with a grunt it tripped and started to fall backwards.

"Oh no! It's going to hit the meeting hall!"

Lucy half-listened to the warning shouts all around her as she saw the demon falling backwards towards the meeting hall. If it fell on top of it, the large hall would become nothing but a pile of rubble.

Much to everyone's surprise, however, there was a bright blue flash that appeared behind the demon for no more than a couple seconds, and even though it was already falling it was lifted back up off its feet and sent flying forward. Everyone watched it in shock as the demon literally flew forward this time, crashing into a nearby forest not far away.

"W-Who did that?"

Lucy heard Master Makarov chuckle lightly, and when she turned to look he had an amused glint in his eye and was rubbing his beard in thought.

"I can't say for certain, but I have a good idea. If it is who I think it is, he's awfully far from where he was supposed to be."

Lucy began to scramble to her feet, "Wait, y-you mean it was-"

"Ah! There you are, old man. What the heck was going on here?"

Lucy whirled around only to see Fire Shadow walking up towards them casually in his full mage gear. She noted that others nearby were murmuring, likely about what happened, but she couldn't hear anything clearly.

"Ah, it wasn't anything that Erza, Natsu, and Gray couldn't handle. I'm sure Lucy would have stepped in to help if it looked like they needed it."

Lucy blushed deeply as Makarov patted her on the arm, choosing to keep her mouth shut. In truth, she had already used her summons in earlier fights; they were all tired and she was running dangerously low on energy herself.

"I believe it. Anyway, as for why I'm here, Siegrain stopped me as I was leaving Era and asked me to play messenger boy and deliver this to you. It's something from the Council." Rubbing his hand over a marking on his belt, there was a small burst of smoke, followed by the envelope appearing in his hand. He immediately handed it over.

Makarov looked at the envelope curiously, but before he could open it, there was the sound of approaching footsteps accompanied by a loud voice.

"Hey! Fire Shadow! Did you see how awesome we just were? I got to use my Brilliant Flame attack and helped knock that demon out!"

"Yeah, that was some pretty good stuff, Natsu. You guys make a good team, I'm impressed."

As they got closer, Lucy found it hard to keep the smile off her face, especially after hearing Gray mutter something about never wanting to work with Natsu ever again. They likely would have gotten into another fight as well, if Erza didn't take that moment to push between them, dragging another person behind her.

"Master, what do you want to do with Kageyama? I caught him trying to sneak off again."

Makarov looked at the member of the Dark Guild Eisenwald, who was looking rather drained now that the whole ordeal with the Lullaby flute was done, and obviously not paying any attention to what was happening around him. Lucy noticed that Makarov started to say something, but an exclamation by Fire Shadow cut him off.

"N-no way! Shikamaru, is that you?"

Kageyama quickly regained some energy, but it looked to be due to fright rather than anything else. "W-W-Who are you? How do you know that name? Did my mother send you? I haven't gone by that name since I left home!"

Fire Shadow, who's body language started out rather excited, quickly settled. "Home? Do you mean Konohagakure no Sato?"

Kageyama's facial expression adopted a look of confusion as he peered at Fire Shadow, who was still wearing his mask. "Never heard of it. I'm not from Fiore."

"I see. That's a shame. You look exactly like someone I knew where I come from, but you're not him. Sorry to bother you."

Kageyama still looked confused. "Uh... okay. Whatever."

Makarov spoke up, "Just let him go, Erza."

"Are you sure, Master?"

"Yes. I think he's learned his lesson today. Besides, since Fire Shadow will be able to recognize him easily, I doubt he'd want to bring any attention to himself... or am I wrong?"

Kageyama's eyes went wide as he looked from Makarov over towards Naruto.

"N-No way... Fire Shadow?"

Naruto simply folded his arms across his chest and nodded slowly.

"I-I'll be good! I s-swear it! I'll... I'll even go back home, and take up the family business! I'm sorry!"

Chuckling, Makarov gestured to Erza, who frowned but released her grip on Kageyama. The former Eisenwald member took a few stumbling steps backwards, then immediately turned around and began to run away.

They all sat in silence for a few moments, though Lucy could still hear Natsu and Happy ranting at Gray in the background. "So what now?"

Makarov turned to Lucy, offering her a small smile. "Well, since Fire Shadow nicely decided to save the meeting hall, I don't have to stick around and offer to pay for repairs. You all can head back to the guild, I'll be along shortly. I just need to tie up a few loose ends from the meeting."

"I'll go grab Natsu and Gray." Erza politely excused herself, and Lucy noticed as she brushed one of her hands against Fire Shadow's as she walked past him.

"By the way, old man... I cant say for sure, but I think it's started, just like you were saying it would."

Makarov had started walking back towards the hall, but immediately stopped short and turned back around to face Naruto. Lucy saw as he tossed her a quick glance before focusing on Fire Shadow.

"Well, it honestly took a bit longer to happen than I anticipated."

"Apparently there is more going on than we were both aware of. I'll fill you in on what I can."

Makarov closed his eyes, letting his head lean forward a bit for a moment before he inhaled deeply and opened his eyes once again. "I see. I'll need you to go tell Laxus that it's a go, so he can prepare."

Fire Shadow nodded, "Of course. I think he's been getting antsy anyway."

"I know he has." Makarov chuckled, turning around towards the meeting hall once again. "We'll talk more about this at the guild."

Lucy and Naruto both watched as the small form of the Fairy Tail Guild Master got even smaller as he walked away. As soon as Lucy thought he was out of earshot, she asked the only question that was burning in the front of her mind, "What was that about?"

"Huh?"

The blond girl rolled her eyes and sighed. "What's started? Something is up, obviously."

Fire Shadow laughed, then closed the distance between them and ruffled her hair a bit, causing her to yelp and then grumble as she tried to fix it.

"It's nothing you need to worry yourself about. Now, let's get back... I haven't eaten all day and I hear the magic ramen calling my name all the way from the guild!"

Huffing, Lucy fell into step behind the still chuckling Fire Shadow. She'd find out what was going on, one way or another.

* * *

**A/N: **For those of you who don't read the manga, I'll give you a quick summary of what transpired on Erza and Co's mission. (It's chapters 11 through 21.) Don't read it if you plan on reading the FT manga and don't want to be spoiled. - - - _Erza got some information she overheard in a bar, about a magic spell called Lullaby. Upon investigation they found out that Lullaby was actually a flute that casts the spell, and someone named Erigor from the Eisenwald Dark Guild was going to play it at a train station and kill a lot of people, because when you hear the Lullaby melody it kills you. There was a big fight (blah blah) and Erigor (one of the guys 'in charge' of Eisenwald) gets away. The train station was just a decoy trap, and his true target is killing the Guild Masters during their meeting. After breaking out of the trap, Natsu and Happy catch up to Erigor and beat him recovering the flute. One of the Eisenwald guys who helped them before (Kageyama) now betrays them, and takes the flute to continue the mission Erigor started, also taking their transportation. They give chase but are much slower. Kageyama takes too long to do anything, and is nervous and exhausted to boot, and it takes him a while to build up the nerve to play Lullaby. When he gets ready to he encounters Makarov, who performs a Speech no Jutsu, causing Kageyama to forget about what he was going to do and cry. Lullaby the flute comes to life, calling them all weaklings, and turns into a huge demon._ - - - The rest was written in the chapter.

Natsu and Lucy's missions in regards to Macao and Daybreak happened exactly as they did in canon with no changes. If you're curious about Lisanna and why she didn't go with them, she was already tapped for support on missions, which as you read in this chapter, is fairly common because support mages are rare.

In regards to my other large fic - Whirlpool Country... it's coming. That's about all I can say. I've been suffering from writers block for a little while (obviously) with that fic, because the canon updates are coming fast and furious, and I'm trying to at least incorporate a little bit of it into what I had planned. It's not as easy as it might seem, unfortunately.

Now for the review answers... I know it's been a while, so there are quite a few.

_Stages -_ Close enough to what I had planned, yes.

_Elemental Nation!Mages -_ They exist, but it's like Naruto's Earthland counterpart - there will be no connection.

_Naruto and Erza Dimension Travel -_ He won't want her to go dimension hopping for multiple reasons, that's all I can say for now.

_Lucy and Fire Shadow -_ I think a lot of questions were answered in this chapter. It isn't the end of their interactions by far.

_Erza and Sakura -_ Erza knows everything there is to know about Naruto's past at this point, and right now Naruto's desire to get 'home' isn't as strong as it used to be, but it will always be there. Even if he was to go back right now, after three years, it wouldn't be possible for him and Sakura to just hop right back into whatever they did or didn't have before. For all everyone in the Elemental Nations know, Naruto is dead. They've moved on because they have to.

_SS-Missons -_ They are also dubbed the 'Ten Year Missions'. Naruto has not done any 'Hundred Year Missions' because there is only ever one at a time, and Gildarts is currently attempting it. It may not be the 'canon' interpretation (I haven't gone back to double check), but it's how I'm interpreting it for the purposes of this fic.

_Naruto Strongest Fairy Tail Mage -_ Not including Makarov, yes.

_Action -_ Unfortunately this chapter didn't really have much noticeable action, but the next chapter -should- have a lot more.

_Erza Meets Kushina? -_ While it won't happen, it's always fun to speculate. My thoughts? Erza stands/sits blushing and fidgeting while Kushina pampers her to death. Literally.

_Sequel Hint -_ Yes, other Fairy Tail members will continue to make (random) appearances, some obviously more often than others.

_Naruto and Seals -_ He's learned as much as he can from Seth, but it's still not enough.

_Time Skip Notifications -_ This is going to be a sticking point between myself and several readers. I see the comment often, and I saw it with my latest posted chapter of Experiments in Empathy as well. Sometimes I have something worked out in my head that goes together wonderfully when I'm looking at my outline, and I try to just make things flow from one scene to the next without anything more than a line break. Of course, it looks great in my head - but I have to admit that it's my fault for sometimes not looking at things from the readers perspective. When I'm writing, I'll think about putting in 'oh, this is three months later', but actually typing that in the header of a new scene... _it has no place_, at least to me_._ That's why a lot of books (especially Mystery/Thrillers) have to put the 'time' at the start of _every_ chapter, to make it consistent. I really can't do that with this, about the closest I could get is at the end of each chapter in the guild card. I also tried to say how much time had passed within the first couple paragraphs... but that obviously works better some times than it does others. I tried it this chapter... I will firmly say that I don't like that I put it in... but unless the response to me doing that is overwhelmingly negative, I'll try to remember to do it from now on.

_Canon Skip -_ For purposes of avoiding redundancy, there will be scene skips compared to canon when nothing changes. I'll try to comment on what was skipped in the A/N at the end of chapters from now on. Unless I write otherwise, everything (90 percent or more) of what happens in canon will stand.

_Siegrain -_ Naruto knows that there's something fishy (not Happy fishy, either) about the guy, but he can't quite place his finger on it. Even moreso now thanks to Ultear. Kyuubi just wants him dead, that's all.

_Sasuke -_ As for any Elemental Nations characters, you'll have to wait for the epilogue.

_Latest Canon Arcs -_ I've already got the latest arcs integrated completely into my outline, including the S-Class Trial and Zeref reveal (which was honestly rather convenient). There won't be any problems. I can't tell you how though, that would be spoiling the story, wouldn't it?

_Original Arcs -_ As I did with pre-canon, there will be original bits added into the story, I can't say if there will be 'complete' arcs, but I'm going to use most of canon to build up the post-canon original arc. Nearly all the scenes themselves, however, will be close to original... Naruto doesn't always hang with the people that have the canon spotlight, he'll often be doing his own thing like he was in this chapter.

_9-Tailed Transformation -_ Whenever he uses Kyuubi's chakra he automatically goes to 9 tails now, while maintaining his sanity. If he ever caps his power at a lower level for any reason, he is always in full control.

That's it. Oh, and one last thing... a Billy vs SNAKEMAN plug. If you know what it is or are curious, check my profile. If not, you can ignore this. To those who did before and are still curious, things are looking good.

As of this moment this chapter is un-beta'd, but I wanted to get it out because I might not be online for a little while. It will be updated later with necessary edits.


	14. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter 14

_Dear Mother,_

_I just finished with my most amazing mission yet – the capture of the Dark Guild Eisenwald. Well, okay... to be fair, that wasn't our original mission. It wasn't even something we got paid for, honestly. You remember I wrote to you last time, about some of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail? Well the most powerful woman in the guild, Erza Scarlet, asked me (forced at first, but then Fire Shadow did something and she was a lot nicer about it) to come with her and two others to investigate something. The two others were Gray (who I didn't know that well) and Natsu (who even you know well, now.)_

_The mission had a lot of places where we were trapped and it looked like we were going to fail completely, but one of us always managed to find a way out and succeed (even me!). Of course Natsu had to take off ahead of the rest of us near the end, and we were all afraid he would lose, but he managed to pull off a win against the ringleader of an operation to kill off a bunch of guild leaders! Wouldn't that have been horrible?_

_Anyway, when Natsu beat the leader, we thought we had won. Unfortunately, one of the members who had helped us previously that we had as a hostage decided to break free and make a run for it with the flute Lullaby! The flute was what the Dark Guild was really after; supposedly anyone who hears the melody of the flute would be killed instantly. Luckily no one tried to use it against us, they were concentrating too much on the Masters' meeting._

_When we finally caught up to him, he was getting ready to play the flute to our Guild Master, Makarov. We were all so afraid, and tried to go stop it, but for some reason the other guild leaders held us back and we didn't know why. We found out later that Master knew all along about what the flute was, and decided to talk to the Dark Guild member to keep him from using it. The amazing thing was that he pulled it off! It was truly incredible._

_But that's not the end. He dropped the flute, and it turned into this huge demon! I was so scared, I had never faced anything like that before. But Erza, Gray, and Natsu all teamed up and beat it really fast – it was awesome to watch. That's not all either! When they had finished it off, it looked like it was going to fall down and crash into the large meeting hall that the masters were using. But Fire Shadow appeared out of nowhere (really!) and used some kind of glowing blue magic orb to send the demon flying! I didn't know what to think! Apparently he really does live up to his reputation, I know I'm going to remember it forever._

_In the aftermath, I heard them saying that nearly all the members of the Dark Guild Eisenwald had been rounded up and arrested by the council. Unfortunately, they didn't capture the ringleader of the operation, Eligor. It makes me wonder if we'll see him again someday._

_Other than that, everything else at Fairy Tail is great, and I'm having a good time. Don't worry about me mom, I've got plenty of friends and people to look after me now. I'm not alone anymore._

_Love,_

_Lucy_

_P.S. Don't tell Dad._

After finishing the letter, the blond haired girl let out a deep breath, set down her pen, and read over the letter one time. Believing it to be good enough, she nodded to herself, then folded it up carefully and placed it in an envelope, perhaps to be mailed later. Leaving it on her desk, she suddenly felt stiff, so she leaned back in her chair and stretched.

"Aahhhh! Wow, I still can't believe that happened. What an adventure." Leaning forward again and chuckling, this time she stretched her legs out from where they were under her desk. "Still, nothing beats being able to relax in your own home after an experience like that."

"I agree. You've got a nice place here, Lucy."

Letting out a startled shriek, the teenager immediately whirled around in her chair, only to see Gray sitting in another one of her comfy chairs nearby. Seeing her attention focused on him, he decided to give her a cheeky little wave.

"W-W-What are you doing in here? You... you perverted trespasser!"

Gray looked surprised, but also a little insulted. "I might be trespassing a little, but we're friends, right? What's up with calling me a pervert though? That's just mean."

Squeaking with indignant rage, Lucy rose to her feet and pointed at him accusingly, "Clothes! Don't take your clothes off in my house!"

"Ah, I'm afraid there's a little misunderstanding. I took my clothes off before I entered your home."

Letting out a roar, Lucy leaped forward at incredible speed, surprising Gray – if the look of shock on his face was anything to go by. The girl landed on one foot and managed to pivot herself in such a way that she delivered a clean roundhouse to Gray's chest as he was seated, knocking both him and the chair toppling over backwards.

"Tch, ow ow ow..." Gray winced as he held the back of his head with one hand and his chest with the other, rubbing them softly as he started to climb to his feet.

"Get out of my house!"

Just rubbing his chest now, Gray closed his eyes and sighed. "Hey take it easy. I just came to get you in case you wanted to see the spar."

Lucy's rage subsided for a moment, if only because she was confused. "Spar?"

The other teen rolled his eyes as he let his arms fall back to his sides. "Yeah, remember how Natsu kept saying that he wanted to challenge Erza again after all this time, because he was training for a while under Fire Shadow? They scheduled the spar for this morning."

"What? Really? How long until it starts?"

"Yeah. They'll be starting any minute. I'm leaving to go there now."

"Hey! Hold on, I'm coming too! Are they really serious about this?"

* * *

Having lost sight of Gray once they reached the gathering crowd, Lucy started pushing her way through to see what was going on. Finally seeing some people she recognized from the guild, she knew she must be getting close, and started shouting to draw attention to herself. Catching what looked like a glimpse Gray in the crowd, the girl cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice in his direction.

"H-Hold on! Are they really serious about this? Why would they want to spar in front of all these folks?"

Several people turned to look at her, including a few from the guild. One of which was Elfman, who stared at her with a frown. "Of course they're serious. If they weren't, then they wouldn't be real men."

Before Lucy could retort about how ludicrous that sounded, she saw Mirajane pat her brother on his arm. "Now now, Erza is a girl. I don't think Naruto-kun would appreciate it if she was a man."

Elfman blushed and scratched idly at his cheek, but chose not to comment further. Taking that as his accepting the fact, Mirajane gave him a small smile, then turned to the new arrival.

"Welcome, Lucy. Yes, they are both serious – though I think that Erza just wants to see how Natsu's training has improved his skills. That's all. I like Natsu, but I still don't think he can win."

"Mira-nee..."

Turning away from Lucy, Mirajane looked at her sister with a small frown. "I don't mean that in a bad way, Lisanna. But you know as well as I do, if Erza were to get truly get serious, very few people could stand up to her."

If Lisanna replied, Lucy didn't hear it. Moving closer to the sibling trio, she asked another question, "Is it safe for us to be this close? Won't it be pretty bad if two of the strongest people in Fairy Tail fight?"

"Strongest?" Elfman seemed to hone in on that particular word, completely ignoring the part about safety. "I can agree that Erza is strong, but there are plenty of mages in the guild who are still stronger than Natsu, no matter how much he likes to boast about his strength." Almost as an afterthought, he tossed in a quieter, "Sorry, Lisanna."

While the youngest of the siblings simply shook her head and continued facing towards where Natsu and Erza were talking with the Guild Master, Mirajane was looking up at her brother. "Who is stronger than Natsu, Elfman?"

The tall man with spiky silver hair shrugged his shoulders in a languid motion. "I would say I am, but every time we get into a fight Gray interrupts it. Other than that... Laxus, Mystogan, and of course Fire Shadow. You are too, nee-chan, though we never really see you fight anymore."

"What? Why not? Aren't you an S-Class mage?"

Looking from her brother to Lucy, Mirajane gave a timid smile. "I am, but I've been having more fun hanging around in the guild lately rather than going on missions. Besides, Master has been so busy with external affairs, I offered to help him look after the guild. I still help out whenever Master is around though, so I don't get too rusty."

Before Lucy could say anything in reply, someone brushed against her arm, causing her to turn and look. Another girl from the guild, Levy, had moved up next to her. "Hey guys! I'm helping Cana with the bets. Do any of you want to place one?"

Lisanna's head turned so she looked over her shoulder at the new arrival. "What are the odds?"

"They're changing a lot, but the latest I heard was that they were four to one in Erza's favor."

Lisanna scoffed and promptly faced forward once again, causing the light blue haired girl to frown and mumble, "Well it's not like I'm the one coming up with the odds or anything..."

Mirajane simply shrugged and offered a sympathetic glance as Lucy gave the other girl a small pat on the shoulder. Levy turned her head and gave Lucy a resigned smile, then excused herself to go collect potential bets elsewhere.

The moment Levy moved off, there was a brief flash of light, causing everyone's attention to focus on the center of the gathered circle. Lucy wasn't sure what was going on until she noticed Erza at the same time someone shouted out that she was now wearing her special Flame Emperor Armor. Apparently it was extremely resistant to flames of all kind, and the clamor among the crowd started growing rapidly, many claiming that she was taking this too seriously for a simple spar.

Natsu, on the other hand, had a positively maniacal grin on his face, as if he was going to enjoy this greatly.

People around Lucy started jostling each other about, trying to change their bets before the spar started. Unfortunately for most of them, she heard Makarov say to go, and then both of the mages became a blur.

There was a brief explosion as Natsu let loose with one of his techniques, though they were moving too fast for Lucy to see it clearly. She certainly felt the aftereffects, though, as a large burst of hot wind suddenly slammed into her, almost knocking her backwards on her rear. She probably would have too, if Gray hadn't suddenly appeared behind her, keeping her from hitting the ground.

"Uhh... thanks."

"Don't mention it."

As soon as she was standing under her own power, Gray immediately moved around her, his eyes focusing on the fight between Natsu and Erza. Lucy tried to follow it once again, but it was becoming even harder and harder for her to watch them than when they first started. She wasn't used to seeing people move this fast – heck, she didn't know they _could_.

Lucy couldn't help but wince as she saw one of Erza's booted feet catch Natsu across the face; it was so clear it was almost as if it happened in slow motion. Not to be outdone, Natsu rolled with the kick, moving his entire body in a full rotational circle so that he faced Erza again. However, as he was turning around, he prepared a fireball in his mouth and promptly launched it at her as soon as she was in his sights again.

Erza wasted no time in dodging it, and Lucy watched as it came close to scorching a few people in the crowd. As they started moving in on another collision course, however, there was a loud clapping noise, which strangely caused both of them to freeze in mid-swing.

"W-What's going on?"

"Shh." Mirajane shushed her, the older woman's attention focused at a point on the far side of the circle from where they were. A speculative silence fell over the rest of the assembled crowd as well, and Natsu and Erza both fell into passive stances.

"For the moment, nobody move. I am a messenger from the Council in Era."

Lucy was surprised to hear this, and examined the curious... messenger. It was very frog-like in appearance, and definitely sounded male. While shorter than most humans in the crowd, it was definitely humanoid, though it had a frogs head and webbed hands.

"The council?"

None of the sibling trio looked ready to answer her, as they were all staring intently at the new arrival as he moved closer to where Erza, Natsu, and now Makarov were standing.

"The Mage Council in Era... they are the ones who are pretty much the law for anyone who uses magic, and they control the structure of the guilds. Well, for Fiore at least."

Levy had appeared next to her at some point, the soft voice of the girl still managed to startle her slightly. As she was about to open her mouth to ask more about the council, the frog-like humanoid began speaking again, holding an opened scroll between it's hands.

"With charges of damaging property and ten other crimes from the Eisenwald terrorism incident the other day, Erza Scarlet has now been placed under arrest."

* * *

"Let me out of heeeeere!"

Lucy watched as a transformed Natsu pounded on the inside of the class case he was set in. The mood of the entire guild was sour, no one was really saying anything – other than Natsu, anyway.

"You guys have got to let me out of here. I want my original form back!"

"Natsu, be quiet."

Mirajane lightly tapped on the glass container, causing Natsu to frown. It wasn't much of one, as he was transformed into a miniature reptile with lots of teeth and thin lips, though his mood was made clear enough by the growl deep in his throat.

"Let me out!"

"You'll act too recklessly if we let you out of there."

"No I won't, I swear! I just want my original body back, this is humiliating!"

Mirajane leaned down close to the glass container from her position behind the bar. "I know you too well. As soon as we let you out, you'll bolt and head towards where they were taking Erza."

"No I won't! Who cares about Erza! Besides, if anyone does anything, it should be Fire Shadow!"

At that comment, several heads in the guild turned to look at the silent figure, mask on, standing up but leaning back against the wall near the exit, arms crossed over his chest. Other than exchanging a few brief words with Makarov since he arrived moments ago, he hadn't said a word to anyone, which included answering any questions thrown his way.

Lucy heard a sigh nearby, and when she turned to look, she saw Gray lean forward with his elbows on the table where he was sitting. "This is the council we're talking about guys. I doubt even Fire Shadow could do anything even if he wanted to."

There were a few murmurs of agreement from throughout the hall, though Natsu didn't let it keep him down.

"So what? At least he should go say something! If the council will listen to anyone in Fairy Tail, it would probably be him!"

Fire Shadow didn't reply and still hadn't moved, but others had started talking amongst themselves again, mostly wondering what was different this time, compared to all the times members had previously caused a lot of damage.

Something didn't sit well with Lucy. There was something fishy going on, and for once it had nothing to do with Happy.

* * *

"Hello, Erza. It's been a few months since I saw you last."

The redhead stopped short, her froggy-looking escort stopping just a few steps after her, then turning his oddly shaped head to look at her curiously.

Looking around, she noticed as a form started to materialize near one of the columns in the hallway they had been walking down. After a moment, the form completed, and both Erza's and her escorts eyes went wide.

"You... Siegrain! What do you want?"

As the flickering figure approached, Erza quickly noted that her 'escort' had gone down to one knee in a low bow – she didn't know that the council members asked for that level of respect among their employees.

Siegrain didn't reply immediately, instead walking closer to her. She began to crouch slightly, preparing herself just in case. Even though her hands were bound, she would still be able to-

"Relax, Erza. This form is only an image, as I'm sure you're aware. I can't harm you any more than you can me, nor can I interact with anything physically. My real body is still in Era. The same goes for all the other old fools behind the doors to the trial room. This whole thing is a facade, and they know it... there is no reason for anyone to come here with their real bodies."

"So, you were the one that caused this after all. Why am I not surprised?"

Siegrain chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "My my, so quick to blame me. I'm the one who usually backs Fairy Tail's actions during the council meetings, I'll have you know."

Erza simply sneered at him, causing the corner of his lips to quirk upwards. "Anyway, to appease both the council and the public, this was deemed the best and safest course of action. You get to be the scapegoat. But I'm fairly certain you are smart enough to have figured this out all on your own."

"Whatever. If that's all, go away. I'd like to get this over with."

Grinning, Siegrain moved closer, making the redhead tense up. "Just as a reminder, all those old phogeys are behind the door as well with their imaginary forms, and I will be joining them shortly. There was a reason I decided to chat with you before you went in there, though..."

Siegrain moved even closer, his image flickering again at the sudden movement. His hand moved up, as if cupping Erza's chin; even though she couldn't feel anything, the action itself sent a disgusting chill down her spine. Leaning his head close to her shoulder, his image whispered to her, "Never tell the others in that room about what happened back then, okay? It would probably be bad for both of us."

Leaning back, he smirked at the blank look on her face. Pausing for a moment, he adopted a thoughtful look as he tapped a finger against his chin. "But then, perhaps I should talk to Fire Shadow about that as well. I mean, I'm sure having been partners all these years you two trust each other implicitly, and have told each other all kinds of secrets."

The blue haired council member watched as Erza's eyes widened for a brief moment before she quickly turned her head away, her face hidden behind her long hair.

"You mean... you haven't told him yet? Oh..." Siegrain let out a chuckle that continued picking up in pace until he was laughing so hard that he had to lean forward and hold his stomach. The entire time Erza never looked at him again.

Finally regaining his composure, Siegrain made a show of wiping tears from his eyes, then gave a small wave, even though Erza still refused to look at him.

"I'll be waiting for you behind the door as a part of the council. Thank you for still not telling anyone, it helps me out more than you know." That said, his image promptly dissipated.

Erza was standing there, still silent. Her froggy escort slowly rose to it's feet, slightly shaky, and gave her an odd glance.

"You know someone as important as him personally?"

Erza finally straightened up again, giving the large door ahead of them a dead stare. "Unfortunately. He's the most evil person I know."

* * *

"Dammit... I can't just let this go on. I'm going to go and testify in her defense! We all should!"

"Have a little patience, Lucy."

"B-But... Master..." Lucy sighed, sitting back down on her stool. She just _knew_ something was going on, and was fairly certain that others knew it as well. However, no one was saying anything, not even the Guild Master. "Erza doesn't deserve to be singled out like this. She wasn't the only one that caused the problems that happened... and even though they did happen, we managed to stop-"

"That's fine, Lucy. I know. But at this point, even if we tried to do anything, we'd likely be too late to change the outcome anyway."

"But-"

"Let me out dammit! Let me ooouuuutt!"

Lucy tossed Natsu a heated glare from where she was nearby, he was being obnoxious again, and totally talked over any points she was making.

"Are you really sure you want to be released from that cage?"

Stopping all other thoughts, Lucy looked back and forth between Makarov and Natsu, totally expecting the later to begin ranting again. She was completely surprised, however, when instead of ranting yet again, Natsu gained a pensive look on his currently reptilian face, and actually appeared to think about it. Judging by the total silence in the rest of the guild hall, everyone else was surprised at this as well.

"What's wrong, Natsu? Did Happy hide your tongue?"

Instantly, nearly everyone in the guild looked towards Lisanna, who currently had a sleeping Happy cradled in her arms. She blinked owlishly at the sudden attention, but before she could say anything, there was a small blast of magic and explosion back towards the bar.

Startled, everyone turned to see what happened, only to see Macao sitting on top of the counter where Natsu used to be, the glass cage sitting on its side nearby. Various exclamations were thrown about, most about Natsu's location and what Macao was doing on the counter, but he gestured for everyone to settle down.

"Sorry about that, everyone. I took Natsu's place, because I owed him a favor. I just transformed into a lizard so I could pretend to be him."

Lucy was shocked, as was everyone else, judging by the new questions being tossed around.

"But then where is the real Natsu?"

"Has he been chasing after Erza all this time?"

"Oh no, what's going to happen when Natsu encounters the council? Knowing him, he'll challenge them all or try to beat them up!

"Settle down, everyone." Upon hearing their Master's voice, all activity settled immediately, many mages slowly sitting back down. "I know you're all curious as to what's going to happen, but the best thing I can suggest is that you just sit and wait for the outcome."

"Actually, it's already over, old man."

All eyes in the room focused on Fire Shadow, who slowly moved away from the wall to stand up straight.

"Really? How did it go?"

Fire Shadow chuckled lightly from behind his mask. "About how you figured it would. Things were going smoothly, then Natsu showed up, threatened some of the members, and as a result they threw him and Erza in jail for the night."

"What? Just one night? But that... that... " Lucy blushed a deep red as her sudden outburst brought the attention of the room directly to her. "S-Sorry..."

Makarov chuckled. "It's quite alright. I knew from the beginning that this was only being done so that the council could save face with the public, and to show that Fairy Tail still adheres to the rules set down by them. Even if those rules are... crap."

The Guild Master shrugged as he finished talking, drawing chuckles from various places in the room. They all stopped when Makarov focused on Fire Shadow again.

"Are you going to wait there for the night, then, and bring them back in the morning?"

Fire Shadow nodded. "Yes, unless you need something?"

"Nope. See you tomorrow."

Fire Shadow tossed a two-finger salute at the Guild Master, then promptly dissipated in a puff of smoke. Lucy leaned over towards Cana, who was sitting next to her, and whispered to the other girl, "Was that one of his clones? I've never seen one for real before."

Cana nodded, looking at the spot where Naruto was last. "Yep. His clones are solid, can interact with objects and take a few punches before they disappear forcefully, unless they dispel on their own. They also act as an instant form of communication. If one of them learns something and then dispels, he learns everything that clone knew, and so do all of his other still existing clones."

Lucy gave a low whistle. "That's amazing."

Cana had an eyebrow raised as she turned to look at the newest member. "That's not all he can do either. It's no wonder he's known as the strongest mage in Fairy Tail."

* * *

_That evening in Era..._

"Are you content sitting here, while your compatriots languish in that jail cell?"

Naruto opened his eyes behind his mask, turning his head to look towards the direction of the hollow voice. He had felt the faint magical presence of Siegrain's image approach, and the more imposing one of the real Ultear behind him. He silently hoped that neither of them would say anything to him, but deep down he knew that was highly unlikely. Siegrain's question had put any hope to the contrary out of reach.

Naruto's current situation had him leaning casually against the wall in a hallway outside of the cell block. Originally planning to get some brief rest from his current position as he waited for dawn to arrive, he knew now that he'd likely be having nightmares after talking to these two.

Actually, Ultear wasn't _too_ bad when she wasn't around Siegrain. Considering their last discussion, it was likely she only acted like his simpering little secretary to please him, nothing more. He couldn't assume more than that, however, as he barely knew the woman.

He cleared his throat before speaking up, "The council handed down a verdict, didn't they? Fairy Tail knows how to follow the rules when it really matters."

Siegrain's image stopped in front of Naruto, a small smile on his face, only growing larger upon hearing Naruto's words. Ultear stopped not far behind him, though to Naruto it seemed as if she had her attention focused elsewhere.

"So Fairy Tail only follows the rules when it's convenient for them, then? That hardly seems fair to the other guilds."

Naruto sighed, it was so obvious that he was being baited. "Siegrain, both you and I know that I personally have never broken any law that the council has set forth. So if you're trying to get me to finally break one, it's not going to work. Sorry."

The image let out a hearty chuckle, then slowly shook it's head. "Sometimes you're no fun, Fire Shadow. I would have loved to see the look on some of the elders' faces when I could inform them that their pet mage broke Natsu and Erza free from their one-night sentence."

"I am not a 'pet mage'."

Siegrain grinned, wagging a finger in the air between them, "Are you not the one who stated you have never broken any rule or law that the council has set forth? I also know that you've successfully completed every mission we've given you. In fact, you are the _only_ mage who can make both of those claims. You should be proud."

Naruto simply stared at the image of Siegrain as it continued to smirk at him, before finally shaking his head and sighing. "Was there something you wanted, or are you just trying to pump up my ego so you can ask for something crazy in return?"

Snorting, Siegrain shook his head. "I just enjoy getting a rise out of you – but as it seems I won't be getting a rise out of you this time, I'll take my leave."

Naruto said nothing, so Siegrain's image looked over his shoulder towards his aide. "Ultear?"

As if snapping from a trance, the woman's eyes immediately focused on her superior. "Yes?"

"I'll see you back at Headquarters... tomorrow, correct?"

Ultear hesitated for barely a moment, before nodding slowly. "I just need to finish setting up the contact with the information you gave me. Assuming there are no delays on their side, I should be able to report in tomorrow evening."

"Very well." As soon as he finished, the image dissipated, without another glance back in Naruto's direction. He didn't know if he should have felt grateful that Siegrain left so quickly, or insulted that he didn't get any sort of farewell. It barely took a second for him to decide that the former was definitely the better choice.

Naruto began to close his eyes and settle back against the wall until Ultear's voice interrupted him.

"So I don't get a hello this time?"

Turning his head again to look more directly at her this time, he noticed that she was completely focused on him now – unlike before. "I didn't think you really needed one. Don't you normally come and go as you please?"

Ultear sniffed, idly brushing a few strands of her long hair back over her shoulder. "Yes, but a woman always likes to know that someone recognizes her presence. Especially when we're making our presence obvious."

Naruto said nothing, simply watching as Ultear returned his stare, then she slowly began to frown. It wasn't until she opened her mouth to say something else that Naruto finally tossed her a real greeting.

"Hello, Ultear."

Instead of agitating her, however, she seemed to be pleased with herself for some reason. Not wanting to put much thought into it, Naruto shrugged it off, finally closing his eyes as he leaned back against the wall trying to find a comfortable position. Finally finding one, he let out a contented sigh.

"Did you want these?"

Groaning inwardly, Naruto bet to himself that she waited until she knew he was comfortable before talking again. Apparently his attempts at ignoring her were not getting the message across that he did not wish to be disturbed. So instead of opening his eyes and looking, he settled for asking.

"Want what?"

There was a small sigh from the woman before she replied, "The keys to the jail cell where Natsu Dragonil and your... girlfriend, Erza Scarlet, are being held."

The blond's eyebrows rose behind his mask, but his eyes remained closed and he didn't otherwise move. "My girlfriend?"

After a brief moment of silence, "You both hide it well, but for someone with my observational skills it's obvious. But the reason for that is likely because I see quite a lot of you, as an official investigator for the council."

"I'm certain that's only because of with my supposed potential as a Wizard Saint candidate, of course."

Ultear chuckled. "Partly. You know that I've been assigned to observe and investigate you and your missions since your file was created. That I was chosen was no accident. I'm the best at what I do, and you were and still are a very... alluring subject. I may have forced their hands a bit on the matter."

Not sure what to say to that, or how he should feel about it, Naruto chose to keep his mouth shut. There was another small huff a moment later, and he heard keys jingle closer to him. "Do you want these or not?"

"No thanks. They wouldn't leave the cell even if the door was left wide open. They're going to see this incident through to the end, and I don't blame them."

"Ugh, you Fairies. You're all a pain to deal with sometimes, I swear." Hearing a sigh, Naruto heard a metallic tinkling noise, followed by a small poof of air. There was another few moments of silence that Naruto was really beginning to enjoy, until Ultear spoke up again... this time quieter than before.

"Will you be comfortable down here?"

Naruto opened his eyes and looked towards Ultear in surprise – she was simply staring at him with no real emotion that he could discern. In his few minor dealings with her he noted that she had always seemed to be a very shrewd individual... was this perhaps an attempt at her being friendly for once? Perhaps because Siegrain wasn't anywhere remotely nearby...

"I've slept and rested in worse places than this. It's nothing I can't handle. I've had plenty of experience in operating on very little sleep as well."

"Hm. I see." Ultear looked down and tapped at her chin idly for a moment before looking up at his masked face. "Well, if you change your mind for whatever reason, I can have one of the administration's bedrooms unlocked for you to use tonight. It's within my power."

"You don't say? They've never been offered to me before, not that I've ever bothered spending the night here either."

Ultear smiled in a way that sent a chill down his spine. "Technically only Council officials are supposed to have access to that wing, so if I give you a room I'll be breaking a rule. You won't tattle on me, will you?"

"Uh... no?"

"Good then. There is nothing to worry about. My room is in that same wing, down at the far end – as you approach the research department. Since it's the weekend, almost the entire wing will likely be completely vacant. Should you decide you want a room, you can come find me there."

Giving her a brief nod, Naruto started to close his eyes again, but she spoke up once more.

"Or if you get bored... you could stop by for some fun, regardless."

Naruto almost tripped over his own feet as he quickly moved away from the wall, looking at the woman in shock. Even if the sound was soft, he could hear giggling from behind her hand that was covering her mouth as she watched his reaction.

"So the great Fire Shadow can be flustered after all. I kind of wish that I could glance at the face behind the mask to see if you're blushing. Upon getting that reaction, though, I bet you are."

"W-What are you talking about, Ultear? You can't be serious – we barely know each other! Not only that, you just claimed I had a girlfriend, and now you're... you're..."

"I'm what, Fire Shadow? Propositioning you? Someone as powerful as you, I can't believe no one has before now. Though I'm sure that's because Titania has been beating them away with a stick when you aren't looking."

Naruto could do nothing but continue to gape at her from behind his mask. Sure he had been teased and offered good times from random women he'd met, and even been teased a few times within the guild. But Ultear was someone who was observing him because it was her job, and she was an indirect member of the Mage Council as a result. It made him uncomfortable that she likely knew a ton more information about him compared to what little he knew about her...

When Naruto didn't reply to what she said, Ultear simply shrugged and continued talking, "As for my offer, it stands... though from what I know of you, I doubt you'd ever seriously consider accepting it. It's a shame, I think – though at the same time it makes you all the more worthy and desirable."

Ultear turned away and proceeded to walk away from him down the hall, without another word or a look back. The expression on her face as she finished talking spoke volumes in itself – he'd seen it from Erza several times before as well, usually after he had finished teasing her in private.

Desire. It wasn't obvious, but the small grin and half-lidded eyes were enough of a hint.

Shuddering as he thought about it more, he purposefully tried to shut out thoughts of Ultear and even considered going back to the jail cell to talk to Erza some more - simply to erase the raven-haired woman from his mind. But they wouldn't be able to talk about too much because Natsu was right there. Not that he didn't trust Natsu – he did – but the Dragon Slayer was notorious for having a big mouth.

Sighing, Naruto shook his head and tried to get in a comfortable position yet again. He and Ultear had barely talked to each other before, and she suddenly decided to drop this on him? No matter how many times he unwillingly turned their conversation over in his head, it made no sense.

**Sure it does.**

_Huh? Do I really even want to know?_

**Brat. I know her type. While she is obviously human, she is acting like a demon would. She's going after the most powerful alpha she can find.**

_Most power... what does that have to do with anything?_

**Power is everything! Didn't you just hear what I said? She's going after you because in her mind, she's given you alpha status. You totally overpower any enemy you come across, which has garnered her attention. Apparently you act in the way she finds ideal for a mate, therefore-**

_Mate? No way! I have Erza!_

**Yeah? So? What's one more?**

_W-What? I can't do that! It's just... not right._

**Tch. Humans and your stupid moral complications. I know multiple partnerships happen in your dimension among noble houses, so don't act like it's something completely unheard of either. A harem is both the best way to get the most satisfaction and the longest lasting dynasty. You humans like those things, right?**

_Some do. I'm not one of them. I'm happy with Erza._

**You say that now...**

_What's that supposed to mean?_

**Nevermind, it's not worth it. Just don't come crying to me when it's time that you need to safely use one of those reinforcement seals we talked about.**

_Never going to happen._

**Sure, brat. Whatever you say. Just remember, never is a long time.**

**

* * *

**

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

_Mage Council Classification:_ S-Rank, registered  
_Notes:_ _Classified Class II - See Archives Management with inquiries.  
_

_Stage Zero:_ Only utilizes martial combat skills - fists, feet, kunai knives, shuriken, and short sword.  
_Stage One:_ Magical powers, most are nature-oriented, often supplemented by heavy solid clone usage._ See Era Council Archives, Section VI, Row II 'Shadow Clones' for more information._  
_Stage Two:_ Demonic energy cloak covers his body, control given to Kyuubi no Youko.  
_Stage Three:_ Version One: Scarlet Demon Cloak. Version Two: Scarlet Demon Redux - Bones. Version Three: Scarlet Demon Third - Full Body. _See Era Council Archives, Section XXVII, Row I 'Fire Shadow - Naruto Uzumaki' for updates.  
Stage Four:_ Power level unknown, assumed greater than Stage Three. Vague comments about being a 'Sage'. Multiple sources confirm_._

_Member Since:_ October 21st, 782 (3 years, 8 months)  
_Age:_ 20  
Solo Missions: 766  
Team Missions: 334  
S-Rank Missions: 41  
SS-Rank Missions: 4

_Reward to Date:_ 3,348,257,114 Jewels

* * *

**A/N:** Merry Christmas, you filthy animals.

To those of you who celebrate it, anyway. Happy Holidays to everyone else. Except for those of you who work in retail hell along with me. We can all go drown in our misery together.

Anyway, I know this chapter might seem a little bit short, but I wanted to get out something before X-Mas, so here you are. I know some of you are also likely curious about Ultear now. She has a strange role to play in this story. I know some of you are itching for action from Naruto, using his own abilities. Either next chapter or the one after, I swear - possibly including the debut of Stage Four. Phantom Arc incoming.

_The Council_ - While no real concrete details about them have been given in canon, I was guessing that yes, they are some of the most powerful and influential wizards out there. They likely have several members of the Wizard Saints among them as well.

_Naruto vs Lullaby _- He used a simple Rasengan.

_Makarov or Naruto_ - Makarov is probably stronger than most of Naruto's nine-tails modes, except perhaps for the full-body version of it, when Naruto literally becomes the fox. I'm sure Makarov could tire him out, but I bet that in a battle of attrition, Naruto (fox) would come out on top. I'm also not sure what kind of effect Fairy Law would have on Naruto, considering Naruto is not really 'evil' and I'm certain Makarov would have a hard time seeing him as an enemy, but the fox certainly is.

_Makarov plans _- Can't spoil them, but it's about more than just Siegrain.

_Erza _- Kind of like Ultear touched upon, Erza is very possessive of Naruto, but in a way where he never really sees or notices it. Though Naruto has been known to be slightly oblivious about things. Ultimately, however, there are very few women who can handle a stare-down from Erza... Mirajane being one of the rare few.

_Fan Club_ - Number two was Natsu. Mira was happy to get number four.

_Naruto in FT canon _- He'll be there for a few fights, but right now I think I'm going to focus on making most of his stuff more original. Naruto joining a lot of the fights would make them a little too one-sided, but he will have his own objectives. Think about a few chapters back, where Naruto came to the rescue. A lot of his stuff will be 'Hey, I just finished what I was doing and thought I'd stop by to see how you guys were doing!'. Of course, Makarov might have hinted that he take a detour home, as well.

_Erza and PDA's_ - They make her feel embarrassed. Erza does not like to be embarrassed. It's bad for her image.

_Naruto, Team Leader_ - De-facto leader, yes. In command, no, because he likely won't be always doing the same things they are. Something can be said for being -too- strong, no one else will be able to do anything.

_Naruto and Erza_ - Naruto tells Erza everything that he feels she needs to know. He's been on too many missions for her to relate all of them to him, and she trusts him to let her know about what she needs to know. As for Erza's past - she has told him absolutely everything, minus one little fact. She knows about Siegrain's past. Naruto knows there is history between them, but since Erza always appears uncomfortable or unhappy after meeting him, he doesn't push for details. Naruto is a nice guy like that.

_Gildarts_ - Is at Makarov's level, perhaps a little above.


	15. Don't Hate The Interlude

Chapter 15

"Okay, let me get this straight..." Naruto paused for effect, reviewing what he had been told so far, "Natsu wanted to do an S-Ranked mission, so he got Happy to steal one off the board for him. Then he dragged Lucy into it, and she went with him. Then Gray decided he would go stop them, only to likely end up joining them. Finally, Erza went after them 2 days ago, and no one has heard from her or any of the others since."

Mirajane simply gave him an aloof smile and continued nodding her head as Naruto spoke. The blond leaned forward towards the bar, let out a sigh, and placed his head in his hands.

"Now Master wants me to go to this..." Naruto looked at the location in the assignment book, "Garuna Island as well?"

"Well, he suggested that someone else look into it, but he didn't say specifically that you had to go, no."

"Are you kidding Mirajane? This is Naruto, and Erza is his girlfriend. He'll go." Laxus walked by and laughed, giving Naruto a hearty pat on the shoulder. The blond frowned a little, but was surprised by the scowl that was on Mirajane's face.

"Be quiet, Laxus. If you had stopped Happy, none of this would be happening anyway."

That caused Naruto to look over his shoulder at Laxus with a raised eyebrow. Laxus noticed it, but chose to shrug his shoulders and scoff. "I'm a mage, not a babysitter, Mirajane. Natsu knows the rules, and he chose to break them."

Laxus swiftly walked towards the exit after saying his piece, his team falling into step behind him. Bixlow and Fried both waved towards Naruto, who returned the gesture before they had turned around and left the guild hall.

"I don't know what's wrong with Laxus lately." Mirajane sighed as she looked through the assignment book, grabbing the mission sheet that Laxus had dropped on the counter before patting Naruto's shoulder. "He used to be nice, but over the last couple of years, he's just been getting meaner and meaner."

"Maybe it's because you're so nice now? Perhaps it's that whole even exchange thing." Naruto chuckled as he reached for his drink that he had been nursing for the last few minutes. "I think you've changed the most out of anyone, and definitely for the better."

Mirajane's blush appeared and disappeared quickly, and she began scribbling furiously in the assignment book that was on the bar counter in front of her. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, he knew she was probably thinking hard trying to find some sort of comeback to make him flustered. Their banter usually entertained a lot of people in the guild, including Erza.

"Naruto! Hey!"

Both Naruto and Mirajane looked up as the blue haired girl Levy plopped down on a stool next to the blond, then set a small notebook down on the counter in front of her.

"Hey Levy, what's up?"

The girl gave him a brilliant smile, then opened her book, which Naruto quickly realized was in fact a notebook. "I've been working on my script writing. Can you take a look at it for me and see if I made any mistakes? I'm trying to work on healing scripts to help out Lisanna, because she's in such high demand and we don't have enough healers."

"That's thoughtful of you. Sure, let me take a look."

Levy let out a small cheer, causing Naruto to shake his head and laugh as he perused her notes. Scripts in Earthland followed the same principle as seals in the Elemental Nations, the main difference was that they actually used a script language instead of symbols. While the scripting language allowed for a lot of variety with scripts, none of them were anywhere near as powerful as the seals Naruto could make.

He had actually trained himself in script usage after talking with Seth, and the old man had agreed to give him pointers. Upon returning to Magnolia Town and the guild, Naruto had immediately sought further instruction from Fried, who used to be Seth's apprentice. Since Naruto was already familiar with sealing, he soaked up information about scripting like a sponge. Most of the time had actually been spent learning the language, to be honest.

Fried was still better than him, of course, but everyone in the guild knew that Naruto was the second most talented after him. That was probably the main reason Levy was asking him to check her work now – she had a talent for reading and understanding them, and lately had started writing her own as well.

Nodding to himself, Naruto pushed the notebook back towards Levy. "This looks really good for your first attempt, but there are two little things that may not look like much but could be a problem. See this here?" Naruto pointed at one small spot in her script, and the younger girl leaned over to get a better look. Even Mirajane had stopped what she was doing and was listening in.

"You need to swap this out right here," Naruto moved his finger to point at another spot on the page, "Plus, you should not bother with that. While a good idea in theory, it can cause a feedback loop, and that isn't something you'd want on a healing script. Unless, perhaps, the person you are healing is a masochist."

Levy gaped at Naruto, and proceeded to blush as Mirajane placed her hand over her mouth and giggled.

"Change those things and test it out. Let me know how it works, and perhaps we can brainstorm ways to make it stronger. Okay?"

Levy was still blushing slightly, but offered Naruto a quick 'thank you' and a smile, then bolted back towards where she was likely sitting before.

As Naruto was turning back around after watching where Levy went to sit, he noticed Mirajane was looking at him... or more like looking _through_ him with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Mira?"

She didn't respond, so the blond took to waving his hand slowly in front of her face. "Hello? Miraaaa?"

Naruto watched as she blinked a few times, then seemed to remember where she was. With a small yelp, she abruptly turned away. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I just... nevermind." Moving quickly, she grabbed another piece of paper and handed it to him.

"What's this?"

"If you're going to check up on Natsu and the rest, this is something that just came in this morning. A courier job. You know where Blossom Hill is, I'm sure... go there and pick up a package, then take it to Grand Quarry. That's near the mountains not too far from the village where you have to go to get to Garuna Island."

Naruto eyed the assignment sheet in his hand, and then looked at Mirajane, who was still not looking at him, but instead talking as she stared into the assignment book. He looked at the mission board, then back at the sheet in his hand, before it finally clicked.

"Mira... did you-"

Mirajane's hand shot up and covered Naruto's mouth, keeping him from talking. "I knew you'd be heading that way, and for you this is only a small detour. It pays relatively well for a courier mission. I-if... you don't want to do it, then I will." Her rambling was rather cute in a way,

She must have felt him smile from under her hand, as her head dipped down further so he couldn't see her face get even redder. Slowly she pulled her hand away, but remained tense. Naruto folded up the assignment sheet and placed it into one of his pockets, watching Mirajane carefully.

The moment she looked up slightly, Naruto maneuvered himself so that he was leaning over the counter far enough so that his face was right in front of hers. He had a grin on his face now, especially because of the look on hers. Mirajane's eyes were wide open, staring at him, and her face was the color of a tomato.

"Thanks for watching out for me, Mira." He smiled, then leaned forward a little more to give her a gentle kiss on her cheek. Satisfied, Naruto leaned back again, and began checking his gear.

Barely a minute later, he heard his name. "Naruto-kun."

The blond paused his checking, looking over at her. Mirajane's face was tilted down again, but he was surprised to note that her hands were gripping the edge of the counter hard enough to leave marks in the wood.

"Yes, Mira?"

Her voice was low in pitch, likely due to being embarrassed, "Leave and go find my best friend before I drag you to my place and do things with you that I'll only regret later."

Smiling and grabbing his mask, he pulled it over his face. Teasing her any further would likely push her beyond the point of no return. "Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Naruto waved the dust away from his face as he walked towards the drop off point for the package he carried. Grand Quarry did live up to its namesake, the entire village was built into the side of a cliff that had been chipped away at in squares. It was an out of the way place, and from the looks and stares he had gotten out of the few people he had seen wandering about, they usually didn't get any visitors. There were a few places for people on business to stay, as well as a couple bars.

One of those bars was where his delivery was to be made. It was a quaint little thing with only a few scattered people sitting at various locations in the small building. His instructions had unfortunately only told him to come to this particular spot, but gave no indication as to who should get the package. Mentally shrugging, he walked over to the bar and proceeded to sit down.

"Somethin' I can get ya sir?"

"Just water. I've got a job after I finish the one I'm on, so I can't afford to lose focus."

"Gotcha. Just a second."

Naruto nodded and let out a sigh as he slowly pulled his mask up and over his head. Normally he wouldn't take his mask off in public, but this was such a small village it didn't really matter who saw him... the large majority of people wouldn't recognize him anyway. There were enough conflicting reports out there about what he looked like courtesy of a simple transformation, so no one would believe this was his original form unless he confirmed it.

A glass of water appeared in front of him, and Naruto responded by tossing a few jewels on the counter. The barkeep nodded in acknowledgment and moved back over to continue what he was doing before Naruto's arrival.

Reaching into one of his many pockets, the blond pulled out a scroll and sent a burst of chakra into it. Barely a second later there was a small puff of smoke, and a square, wrapped parcel appeared. It was fairly heavy for its small size, but he didn't think much of it. Using both hands he moved the heavy parcel from his lap up to the counter. The barkeep looked at him curiously for a second before shrugging and going back to his work.

Naruto sipped his glass of water and thought about the S-Ranked mission that Natsu and Happy snatched for barely a couple minutes before someone sat down on the stool right next to his.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw you entering town, Fire Shadow. When I saw you place my package on the counter here, I was even more shocked. I never thought you would stoop to being a lowly courier."

Naruto went tense when the voice began talking, but then gradually began to relax when he finally recognized it as the voice continued and he realized that he didn't have anything sharp poking him or a sword at his neck. Turning his head, he offered his new companion a lazy smile as he looked her up and down.

"Well, it's nice to see you too Ikaruga. We really should stop meeting like this, or people might start talking."

The woman with long pink hair snorted as she brushed a few loose strands behind her ear, waving the bartender over with her other hand. "Who is going to talk? Besides, this is only our second encounter."

"Still upset about the previous one?"

Ikaruga tossed him a dark look before turning back to the barkeep and placing an order. They sat in silence until the barkeep returned with her drink, but the moment she went to pay for it Naruto placed his own money in the barkeep's hand instead.

"What was that for, Fire Shadow? I still need to pay you for your completed job."

"I never let a lady pay for drinks." Ikaruga didn't say anything, so he gestured at the package and continued talking, "So this is yours then? A shame, I thought perhaps you were just being friendly and stopping by for a chat."

"I don't think it's possible for us to even remotely consider each other friends. We are in guilds that will oppose each other at every turn. I'm only speaking to you since you have my delivery."

Naruto nodded, idly thinking back to when he first met Ikaruga and her team, Trinity Raven. They were all easily S-Ranked, but he was still better. They belonged to the dark guild Death's Head Caucus, and about a year ago that guild had gotten an assassination contract on a minister in the Fiore government. Somehow the minister found out about it, an quickly sent out a request mission to the most powerful currently available mage in Fairy Tail. That just ended up being Naruto.

The blond had simply beat her team into the ground until they gave up. Ikaruga fought to the bitter end, and had even managed to cut him up pretty fast, but his stamina and healing factor simply let him outlast anything she could do. He started to use his demon cloak, but when she felt the Kyuubi's power it wasn't long before she finally gave up. Ikaruga had claimed that she had never failed a contract before that, and with the way she had fought Naruto was inclined to believe that claim. They apparently had all expected to be taken in by him to Era, to get their bounties that all members of Dark Guilds had, but when he didn't, they were all surprised.

"Maybe we are. But I have nothing against you personally, as you've never done anything to me."

"I see."

She didn't really sound like she understood, but perhaps she was willing to humor him. Before he could say anything further, however, he found a stack of jewels placed right by his hand on the counter.

"Your payment. You're required to accept it."

Nodding slowly, Naruto pulled a slip of paper out of one of his many pockets, and placed it on the small stack of jewels. In the blink of an eye, the stack disappeared with a small burst of smoke that quickly dissipated.

"What...?" Ikaruga stared at the slip of paper still on the counter, watching as Naruto grabbed it and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Sealed it away. It's easier than lugging around a lot of money."

"Quite the interesting skillset you have there, Fire Shadow."

Naruto chuckled, "Don't you ever read any magazines? I always claim to be a jack of all trades."

"I don't have the time to spend reading frivolous junk rags. Especially as of late."

That comment piqued Naruto's interest. "Oh? Something going on?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing you need to worry your handsome little head about. Our latest job seems to be rather tame and boring, compared to what we usually do. It isn't even _illegal_."

Naruto gulped down the rest of his water, glancing at the woman in the seat next to him out of the corner of his eye. When he finished, he set the glass on the counter and tossed her an inquisitive look. "You make it sound like doing something legal is bad."

Ikaruga let out a throaty chuckle, "Oh no, it's not bad. Just boring, and a waste of my skills. I mean, _guard duty_? Seriously? Definitely not my thing, but the pay was good and Master might as well have shoved the job down my throat. The package you just delivered was my shoes and sword maintenance stuff I ordered. I'm led to believe I'll be stuck guarding whatever it is for at least a month, possibly longer."

"You're right, that does sound boring."

Ikaruga shrugged, and grabbed her glass to take another drink from it. In the middle of that activity, she stopped short and looked at a ring on one of her fingers, which was glowing a pale blue.

"Well Fire Shadow, it's been real, but if you don't want a scene you should probably get out of town. Vidaldus is on his way, and he still has a bone to pick with you."

Naruto was already standing up when he paused to look at the pink haired woman again. "Huh?"

"He's the one you thrashed thoroughly; he wasn't able to sit down properly for several days, and complained about having a foot-shaped bruise on his ass for nearly a week. I only shut him up after threatening to castrate him. I have no desire to listen to that again."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh as he pulled away from the bar, placing his mask back over his face. "I guess I should get going then. Goodbye, Ikaruga. Maybe we'll meet again sometime."

"Perhaps. Forgive me if I can't say I'd look forward to it."

* * *

Naruto sighed as he looked out over the docks from the small port town that was near his current destination – Garuna Island. He had been to a few of the local pubs, and none of them were willing to offer him passage over to the island. Every single person claimed the island was cursed and no one ever returned.

There were reports of multiple people having come through the pubs and asked the same thing regarding passage. Going by their descriptions, Naruto recognized them all easily – his now missing guildmates. Only part of him was worried for their safety, he believed most of them could take care of themselves, especially Gray and Erza. Natsu had a knack for getting himself into, but also out of trouble. Lucy was the only real unknown quantity for him, he didn't know enough about her or her abilities yet to be an accurate judge as to how she would fare.

Still though, that brought him back to his current dilemma. There were no boats going to the island. There was rumored to be a fisherman of sorts who took people to the island, but he hadn't been seen for the last two days, so many believed that whatever curse currently affected the island also managed to nab him as well.

There was a rumor that the redhead who came through commandeered an entire ship, but it was just a rumor and no one had any proof. Naruto couldn't help but grin behind his mask though, that sounded just like Erza.

Looking out towards the island on the near horizon, Naruto tried to estimate how long it would take to run on the choppy ocean water in order to get there. At least an hour or two, quite possibly more.

**You could use my power for a boost too.**

_I could, yes. But I don't want to be too tired when I get there. Using your power always tires me out because I have to buffer my own body with my own power so I don't get burnt out._

**What about using natural energy and doing that leaping thing you practiced?**

_I'm not sure I want to do that. I don't even think I'd make it more than halfway there. Besides, the landing will probably make a lot of noise and I don't think I want to attract any extra attention. We are going up against an unknown, after all._

**Bah, who cares? You need to fight someone strong. It's been nothing but weaklings for the last few years. I'm bored.**

_Being honest, I'm getting bored too. There haven't been any challenging fights. The hardest fight I had was when I was still recovering and fought Igneel. I haven't had to use your cloak since fighting The Beast._

**You're saying this like I don't already know. I thought that Master of yours said we'd be facing more notable opponents once this plan of his went into action. It's taking too long.**

_He said it would take years to come to fruition._

**That doesn't make it any less boring. I want to know what that Ultear woman wants you to do. She seems to have big plans.**

_I have no idea, but I'm wary. But if it can help me find a way home..._

**Here we go again. I don't see why you're still so hung up on that. It's not like anything will be the same there once you go back.**

When Naruto chose not to reply to that, Kyuubi grumbled a few words about him being weak, but then went silent. It wasn't something he often liked to be reminded of. Unless if something had happened to Madara, then the Elemental Nations were not likely to be anything remotely similar to what they were when he was thrown into this dimension.

Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, Naruto jumped off the end of the dock, landing with a slight splash on top of the choppy water. Focusing his chakra into his legs and feet, he started to run along the surface of the sea, making waves and kicking up a decently sized sea spray behind him.

* * *

The elderly man Zalty settled down on the branch as he set his crystal ball down next to where he was seated. He passively listened to the villagers down below talk about the end of the Moon Drip ritual, the destruction of the demon Deliora, and what could be done about the moon that they wanted destroyed.

It was a shame about Deliora, at least to a certain degree. While the demon would likely have proved to be unpredictable, Zalty had no doubt that Siegrain would have been at least able to direct it, if nothing else. Exactly what Siegrain wanted the demon for, he had no clue, but didn't really care either. He was operating under orders, and if nothing else, he followed his orders to the best of his abilities. It was often quite rewarding, especially as of late.

He groaned slightly as the pain in his left cheek flared up again. Natsu was stronger than anticipated, even if he had used less than half of the true power of which he was capable. Unfortunately he had to play down his abilities so that his true strength wasn't revealed – not that it really mattered. From the few observations he'd had of the dragonslayer, he really didn't put much thought into anything he did, unless it was a fight. The only one that he really had to watch out for was Erza, as she was incredibly shrewd, with a calculating mind that easily rivaled his own.

Then there was Gray. Zalty had to suppress the urge to maim the boy on more than one occasion. As to why... well, they had plenty of history, even if Gray was likely completely oblivious to most of it.

A loud murmur rippling through the gathered villagers below caused Zalty to focus on what it was being said down there. As he listened, he couldn't help but chuckle... his estimations of Erza's deductive capabilities was apparently well warranted.

"Amazing, that Titania. She's already got it figured out," Zalty mumbled to himself, then waved his hand over the crystal ball next to him. The crystal went from milky-white to silver, and a few seconds later changed over to a pale blue, signifying that it connected to another crystal ball that it shared a connection with.

A brief flash from down below made Zalty focus on the source, only to see Erza appear in a new suit of armor. He heard the redhead call for Natsu to follow her, and then watched as they moved over to one of the lookout posts and climbed up. Once inside, Erza apparently began to explain what Natsu had to do, as there were several minutes of silence where he could only hear occasional murmurs from the assembled crowd.

Suddenly out of nowhere a bright light shot out from the lookout tower, flying up into the sky directly towards the moon. Zalty was only a little surprised, but that gradually became amusement as he watched the bright light travel higher and higher. It only took about fifteen seconds before there was an impact noise, followed by a loud cracking noise.

Barely a few seconds later, the crystallized cover that had formed over the island began breaking apart into a fine dust, falling down around everyone. Meanwhile the sky above changed back into it's usual colors, the moon was restored to its pale white color instead of dull purple. Erza really was quite intelligent.

_He_ had definitely chosen well. Such fine taste he had.

Before Zalty could continue that line of thought, the crystal ball began to flicker slightly. He looked down at it and smiled slightly. "Did you see it?"

A disembodied voice spoke through the ball, answering the question. "Yes. It was quite the spectacle. They performed better than I had expected."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Not at all. I'm actually relatively pleased with their strength. But they still need to get stronger."

The ball switched from the pulsing blue to the silver, then back to the pale milky white, showing the connection was closed. With a chuckle, Zalty picked up the ball and used his power to disassemble it, turning it into dust, which he placed inside a small pouch.

"You know, that form doesn't do much for your figure."

Zalty whirled around, shocked. Before him stood Fire Shadow. Where had he come from, and how did he manage to sneak up on him? As for the figure...

"I didn't know you paid attention to me in that way, Naruto. I'm flattered."

Zalty noticed as Fire Shadow went rigid for barely a moment before shaking his head, but offering no further comment. Laughing, the older man let his disguise slowly flow off of his body in several gusts of smoke, gradually revealing someone else.

"Not only can I not sneak up on you, but apparently you can sneak up on me rather easily. Will you still not tell me how?"

Fire Shadow shook his head again. "Sorry Ultear. Trade secret." Strangely, he _almost_ sounded sincere.

The raven-haired woman gave him a wry grin and placed one of her hands on her hip. "Of course. I have my secrets, and you can keep yours. I must say, though – it's a good thing you didn't show up earlier. If you had outed me then, things might have gotten a lot more interesting."

Naruto sighed and pulled his mask to the side, so that it rested on against the side of his head. "So what is the council doing out here interfering in an assigned mission? That is against the rules, last I checked."

Ultear chuckled lightly before gesturing out towards the village behind her. "I was here working undercover long before the mission to 'free' the people of this village from their little curse."

"Something about this Deliora I've heard rumors of?"

Across from him, the woman's eyes narrowed. "It would have been useful. Nothing more. Of course we realized that it might not still be alive after all this time it frozen in stasis, but it was something that was worth investigating."

"For your own purposes, right?" Naruto asked. It was a stab in the dark, but judging by Ultear's demeanor, Naruto was coming closer to guessing correctly than she was comfortable with him knowing.

Surprising him, however, Ultear simply smiled. "My, you are more clever than I originally gave you credit for. Yes... you are correct. But that is all the information I'm giving you. Unless, of course..."

Ultear licked her lips as Naruto stared at her, and it didn't take him long to figure out what she was suggesting. Choosing not to comment on it, he instead shrugged and placed his mask back over his face, getting ready to leave. She had already stated why she was so interested in him, and it was really starting to unnerve him with how persistent she was being. Of course the part of him that was his Kyuubi-inspired primal urges was just telling him to go with the flow, but thankfully his more rational self was good at taking control at times like these.

"Hmm, really? I'm getting even more and more impressed." Naruto froze as Ultear's voice was right by his ear. His immediate response was to duck down and jump backwards, away towards another branch in a nearby tree.

Ultear simply laughed and muttered something he couldn't hear, before speaking clearly. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, dearest. Please continue entertaining me."

As she finished talking, she simply offered him a small smile and wave, then promptly jumped down to the ground, landing in a crouch. Without looking back towards him, she walked through the underbrush until Naruto lost sight of her.

_I wonder what they wanted this 'Deliora' for._

**I have no idea. But whenever you humans want to play with one of my kind, it usually doesn't end well. I mean, look what happened to your mother.**

_You had to bring that up, didn't you?_

**I only speak the truth. But we both know you can't handle the truth.**

_Now you're just speaking nonsense._

**Whatever, brat. Maybe you should corner that woman and interrogate her. I wonder what kind of information she has. It seems like she's one of the people in this dimension who really is in the know.**

_I'm not too fond of interrogations. But I'm hitting dead ends in my research, and until I can start working on Makarov's plan, we're stuck. Next time I see her though..._

**You'll give her the old one-two?**

_Something like that._

**Sounds kinky.**

_Shut up._

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, I know it's been a while, much longer than it should have been. I have no excuses other than the usual. Check my profile for the full update. Anyway, this chapter may not seem like much, and for that I partly apologize. It is a connection chapter, the next one will be a lot of action because those of you who follow the manga know what's coming next - Phantom Lord. I'm trying to follow along with my original plan for the story... Naruto doesn't have much of an impact on what happens directly in the canon story - many people have already read canon and there is no sense in repeating it. A few encounters in canon may be changed, but overall Naruto will most often be doing his own thing. That's also one of the only real legit ways I can add in antagonists powerful enough to actually have to make him work for it, since he generally steamrolls everyone else. There will be a general break away from canon eventually, probably not long after the trip to Edolas. The only reason I'm giving away this much info now is because I feel bad with how long it took me to update.

The length of my chapters might get a little bit shorter than what everyone is used to, because I think that may have been one of the things that was keeping me from writing for a while. Trying to literally _force_ scenes. To be honest, I wrote long chapters because I like reading long chapters, so I may just make long chapters at random depending on how much I feel like writing. Next chapter should have some action in it, finally - and perhaps a glimpse of Sage Mode as well.

_Erza vs Ultear_ - They will eventually have their confrontation(s). Naruto is loyal to those who are loyal to him. Did I make that sound vague enough?

_Erza's Ground Rules_ - You know, the usual. 'Hands off, he's mine.' What Ultear referred to as 'beating them off with a stick'.

**EDIT:** Stupid section breaks. Had to go back and edit them in. Sorry about that to anyone who read the chapter as soon as they got the notice.


	16. I Have A Secret

Chapter 16

Shortly after his brief encounter with Ultear, Naruto followed the impromptu team down towards the beach, traveling through the trees using his old shinobi methods. Once they got closer he moved ahead of them, and sat down on a large rock, waiting for them to arrive. Gray was the first to appear and spotted him almost immediately – the poor teen went so pale he may as well have been clear. For once Naruto was glad he wore a mask that covered his face so no one could see him smile; Gray had stopped suddenly, causing Natsu and Lucy to crash into him, sending them all tumbling to the ground.

Needless to say Natsu tried to start a fight because of that, until Lucy tapped him on the shoulder and pointed in Naruto's direction. At first the dragon slayer looked surprised, but then quickly began yelling about how they managed to complete an S-Rank mission. While the blond was both amused and proud of the accomplishment, mission protocol dictated that as the now senior member of the group, he couldn't afford to goof off. If he wasn't part of the mission now he would have been congratulating Natsu immediately, but if there was one thing he learned when arriving in Earthland, it was that you don't take missions you aren't capable of handling. Normally he was one of the most easygoing people in the guild, but when strict rules were broken, he was one of those in charge of enforcing them.

"Natsu."

The cold tone of Naruto's voice stopped the dragon slayer in his tracks, and he finally shut his mouth, looking at the blond uncertainly.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here, don't you?"

Natsu visibly gulped, then nodded slowly as he hung his head. Naruto looked around to see a still pale Gray and a scared, shaking Lucy. Even Erza looked rather unnerved and wasn't meeting his gaze. He had a slight bone to pick with her later, as she didn't leave any messages that she would be going after Natsu, Lucy, and Gray. As a result, he had been left wondering for a few days until Mirajane mentioned that Makarov was worried.

"Do you have any idea how much Master was worried about you all? Or Mirajane? Or Lisanna?" Shaking his head briefly, he jerked his thumb back over his shoulder, at the pirate ship that was still parked near the shore. "Everyone get on the ship. We're going back. _Now_."

Naruto summoned a clone then promptly dispelled it. The rest of the group immediately understood that he had just conveyed a message back to the guild headquarters... he had left a clone there, and any knowledge from his dispelled clone would immediately travel back to let everyone know that they were all okay.

Natsu and the rest of the group wasted no time in saying goodbye to the few villagers that had followed them down to the beach. They all sounded rather somber, any jubilation at having completed a high ranking mission was likely sucked out of them by how serious Fire Shadow was being. They obviously didn't like the reminder that they went on a mission they shouldn't have. Even though they had apparently managed to sucker Erza into helping them finish the job, Fire Shadow was not a person that any of them wanted to get on the bad side of.

The trip back to Magnolia Town and Fairy Tail Headquarters was rather uneventful, at least when compared to previous journeys. It was amusing to hear Erza explain how she had commandeered a pirate ship to get her to the island, but it came in handy because it helped them get back to the mainland with no issues. Well, no issues other than Natsu's usual ones, anyway.

Other than the incapacitated Natsu, during the trip they all took turns explaining to Naruto what had happened on the island prior to his arrival at the very end. The discovery of the supposedly 'cursed' village, meeting and fighting Lyon and his ragtag team of mages, Gray's own history with Lyon and Ur, and the dead demon Deliora.

Naruto paid close attention to the mention and description of Ur, and asked Gray if she had any relation to someone named Ultear.

Gray looked at Naruto strangely with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, Ultear was her daughter, why? Ur said she died before I met her."

Naruto shared a look with Erza, who seemed confused as well. Turning back to Gray, the blond shook his head, "Gray... Ultear is alive. She works as an investigator for the Mage Council in Era."

Gray's face went slack upon hearing that. He mumbled out something that Naruto didn't quite hear, then appeared to get lost in thought for a while. They all fell quiet after that exchange, and the remainder of the journey was, for the most part, filled with silence. Naruto was acting colder than most of them had ever seen him act before, and after he had gotten the explanations out of them, he pretty much snubbed any further attempts at conversation. His snubs went so far as to include Erza, who seemed to be both resigned to accept his actions, and rather somber because of why it was happening. Lucy had tried on more than one attempt to cheer up the redhead, but all of her efforts appeared to be for naught.

It was so bad that even the ever-energetic Happy could read the mood, and kept himself as quiet as possible.

Of course his own actions were making Naruto kick himself, but at the same time he needed to get across just how dangerous S-Ranked missions could be to Natsu, Lucy, and Gray. They broke both guild and council rules by taking an S-Ranked mission without having an S-Rank mage along with them. He could slightly understand Gray being sucked into helping Natsu, and even Erza to a point, considering they were all childhood friends. She was correct in her actions at not accepting any monetary reward, though he did notice Lucy had the extra golden key. Still, Erza had not mentioned that, nor had any of the others, so he was a little put out by that.

The silence stopped when they arrived in Magnolia Town, but Naruto walked ahead of the rest as they talked to each other about what their punishment would likely be. Erza was fairly confident that she would not be punished, since she was legitimately an S-Ranked mage and had helped them finish the mission so that the guild wouldn't look bad. If anything, she'd get a slap on the wrist for not updating the guild properly as to their status, and forcing Makarov to send out yet another mage.

As they talked among each other, Naruto was being made aware of their surroundings, and thought something strange was going on considering the amount of people he had seen pointing in their direction and whispering. As they approached the area where their headquarters was located, everyone went silent when they saw that there were giant metal rods that had pierced the building structure in multiple locations, effectively ruining the building.

"What the-"

Naruto's impending question was cut off as Natsu ran ahead of him, shouting out about their guild being destroyed. That shout garnered the attention of a white-haired woman who was standing outside nearby, sweeping away some debris.

The blond spotted her at the same time that she waved to him.

"Mira! What happened here? Was anyone hurt?"

Mirajane shook her head as she set the broom nearby against one of the now shattered walls, and walked over to them. "I know it looks horrible, but we're all okay. The attack happened in the middle of the night, so no one was here. Follow me, I'll take you to everyone else down in the cellar."

"Welcome back, by the way." Mirajane added, almost as an afterthought. She tossed the rest of the group a light frown before turning around and moving around the side of the building towards where the cellar door was located, Naruto following immediately behind her. The rest of the group all shared confused and sad looks before moving around the side as well.

The situation inside the cellar was nothing short of controlled chaos. Many people were talking in groups, all upset and angry, with many frequent exclamations about wanting to hit back. Trying to ignore it for now, Naruto instead moved with Mirajane directly over to where Makarov was sitting.

"Welcome back Naruto. That was fast. What happened?"

The blond jerked a thumb over his shoulder, at the other four who were slowly walking up behind him. "They can explain better than I could. It seems by the time I arrived, they were finishing up anyway."

"Hmm... very well. I'll talk with them now, though I will probably need to talk with you later."

"Yes, Master." Naruto nodded towards Makarov, then moved aside and let the others step up. Spying Elfman sitting alone over at one of the smaller tables, he decided to join the other man. Elfman noticed as Naruto approached, and offered a small wave and brief smile.

"How are you, Elfman?"

"Feeling like less of a man, because of what happened to the guild hall."

Naruto chuckled slightly as he pulled his mask off, setting it on the table. "It was hardly your fault."

"I know, but it is still an insult. I think we should be able to act like real men and retaliate."

"So do I," Naruto shrugged, "But you know the rules. Inter-guild fighting is completely prohibited. Phantom Lord isn't a dark guild."

"Yet." Elfman took a drink from the mug that was sitting in front of him. "I've heard some rumors that they have been toeing the line with the contracts they've accepted. The reason they probably haven't been classified as dark yet is because their Guild Master, Jose, is one of the Ten Wizard Saints. The way he is acting is unbecoming of a man."

"Politics," Naruto snorted as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

"Agreed, though even that can only keep them safe for so long. It's no secret that they view us as rivals for the number one guild spot in Fiore. I'm sure you've come across a few of their mages."

Naruto nodded. "They didn't strike me as being anywhere near the level of a Fairy Tail mage, though-"

A resounding slapping noise spread throughout the cellar, interrupting Naruto. He noticed that Elfman was looking over his shoulder, apparently surprised at something. Turning around, the first thing he spotted was a teary-eyed Lisanna with her arm extended, and Natsu with his head turned slightly to the side. That quickly answered the question about what the slapping noise was.

Before anything else could happen, she quickly reached over and grabbed Natsu by his scarf, and Happy by his tail, and dragged them forcefully towards the exit. Neither one fought very much as they were dragged along, they likely expected this sort of outcome.

"Ouch. Remind me to never get on Lisanna's bad side."

Elfman chuckled, "You're enough of a man that I don't think you have anything to worry about. Her and I both look up to you as a big brother of sorts, though you already know that."

Naruto nodded. They had both said so, multiple times. Mirajane had approved, though the two of them were too close in age for her to realistically feel the same way. They had a close bond, just like the other two members of the Take Over Trio, but it was different from any bond he had with anyone else in the guild, Erza included. While Erza was Mirajane's best female friend, Naruto was likely her best male friend.

Any further thoughts were interrupted by the noise of a chair being dragged over to their table, and a clunk noise as it was set right next to his. As Naruto turned his head to look at the chair, his chin was grabbed and lifted up. Startled, he caught a brief glimpse of a sad-looking Erza, who immediately moved her face down and captured his lips with hers.

It was a chaste kiss, all things considered, but there were definitely sentiments behind it. It only lasted for a brief moment – much too short in Naruto's opinion – but she pulled away and gave him a brief smile before settling down in the chair she had moved next to his.

"What was that for?"

Erza let out a sigh as she settled down in the chair, then leaned slightly so her shoulder bumped up against his arm. "I felt I owed you that, plus an apology for not letting you know I was going to be gone. It was all so sudden and I got caught up in worry."

Naruto nodded, expression grim. "I'm sorry too."

"Why?" She gave him a brief, puzzled look.

"For ignoring you on the way back."

Erza's expression took on a look of understanding before she shook her head, faced forward and tilted it slightly so that it came to a gentle rest on his shoulder. To his pleasant surprise, her hand grabbed his and entwined their fingers. They had both been so busy as of late, they barely had any time to spend with each other.

"I knew you were trying to set an example," she explained softly. "I understand. I would likely be doing the same thing, if I had followed through the way I was planning to."

"So why didn't you?"

The redhead chuckled briefly, but there was no humor in it. "Gray can be very convincing when he wants to be. I was surprised. Besides, they had already done most of the work, and I had already considered finishing the job because of that."

"So what happens now?"

He felt Erza shrug against his arm. "Master has forbidden Lucy, Natsu, and Gray from taking missions for a week. A fairly light punishment, all things considered. It probably would have been more severe, but with this recent unprovoked attack by Phantom Lord, I don't think he wants anyone dwelling on negativity. There is already enough of that going around."

Naruto let out a 'hmm' in acknowledgment and glanced back over the table at Elfman, who appeared to be trying to look everywhere but where Naruto and Erza were sitting. Naruto was going to to speak to him, but the appearance of Gray next to the table stalled any questions he was going to ask. He looked up at the ice user, but Gray was staring down at Erza.

"Erza, are you coming?"

Erza's head shifted from Naruto's shoulder, and she looked at Gray. "Already?"

"Yeah, Master suggested we stick together in groups if we're leaving the cellar. He doesn't know if any Phantom Lord members are still around, and they may try to do something if we're alone."

"That makes sense. Very well." She glanced at Naruto, "Do you want to come too? We were planning on stopping by Lucy's new place."

"I would, but Master asked me to stick around for a little while. He wants to talk to me about something. Perhaps after, if you're still there?"

At first, Erza looked crestfallen, but nodded when he asked to meet up later. "If I'm not there, I'll be at home. Okay?"

"Alright. I'll see you later."

Erza separated her hand from his and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before standing, then dragged her chair back to where she got it from and gestured for Gray to follow her. On the way out of the cellar they cornered Lucy and dragged her with them.

"I see Mira-nee is gesturing me over to her, she looks worried about something. I'll be back if she doesn't send me on a manly quest."

Naruto looked over at Elfman, who was slowly standing from his seat. "Right. I guess I might as well go and talk to Master then. He said he wanted to talk to me, so I might as well get it over with."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Naruto heard Makarov grunt as the old man hopped up onto the small table in a separate room of the cellar. The moment the Guild Master settled himself, the blond grabbed a stool from against a nearby wall and set it down near the center of the room before sitting on it and trying to get comfortable.

"So what can I do for you, boss?"

Makarov chuckled as he started shifting through some of the files on the table, opening a few and examining their contents. "Tell me, Naruto... what do you know about Phantom Lord?"

Naruto shrugged as he stared at the folder in Makarov's hand. "Not much, I don't really pay attention to guilds that aren't classified dark. I've heard some information in passing, like they consider themselves to be our rivals, and in a contest with us for being recognized as the top guild in Fiore. I was telling Elfman that none of their members that I've encountered so far have left me impressed."

Makarov grunted in acknowledgment before replying, "That's true. I would have classified them as dark just for attacking another guild, but since their Guild Master Jose Porla is a Wizard Saint... he'll get away with this little indiscretion as long as it is all he does. Anything more against us, and I'll-"

The door to the little room they were in burst open, with a teary Mirajane bursting through, the imposing figure of Elfman behind her looking enraged.

"Mas-Master! It's Levy and team Shadow Gear! They... they..." Mirajane broke down in tears in front of both men, shocking them completely. Makarov wasted no time, hopping off the desk and staring at Elfman.

"Take me to them." Without looking back, he spoke over his shoulder. "Naruto, help Mirajane."

Both Makarov and Elfman disappeared immediately, and from the sound of it, most of the guild left the cellar to follow them. Looking towards Mirajane, he slowly moved over towards her and knelt down in front of her. Reaching out, he pulled her into a gentle hug, surprised at how much she was trembling.

As she melted into his arms and let out a sob, Naruto tried to gently coax out of her what was upsetting her so much.

"Shadow Gear... they, they were all assaulted and... bruised and beaten. They – Their arms were held up in braces that were nailed to a tree in the middle of town." She sniffled as Naruto went rigid. Shadow Gear - made up of Levy, Jet, and Droy - was a support team, they weren't combat oriented. Who would...

"They had the emblem for Phantom Lord stamped on each of them. I want... I want _to hurt them..._"

Naruto was caught off guard as Mirajane began to transform into her Satan Soul form while in his arms. The hug she had him in became tighter and tighter, and he was suddenly glad that he was still in his uniform with his light metal breastplate.

"M-Mira... calm down. You're transforming."

The effect of his words was immediate, her magic power settled back down, and she eased the death grip that she had on his torso. He found himself chuckling as he gently rubbed her back. "I'm sure Master will think of some way to get back at them for this."

"You're damn right I will. This is war."

Naruto and Mirajane both looked towards Makarov, who was walking in their direction at a brisk pace. Most of the guild was following behind him with various looks of anger on their faces.

"Master?" Mirajane pulled away from Naruto, slowly wiping her eyes. "I'd like to help."

"Of course you will. But first... Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"I've got a job for you and Mystogan. I think you'll find it to your liking."

Naruto nodded before sighing internally. War... he had hoped he wouldn't be hearing that word again anytime soon, if ever again. So much for that.

* * *

"So, do you think they will actually go to war?"

Ultear turned away from the window she was looking out to glance at Siegrain before answering. "Of course. Jose Porla is a pitiable fool, and the head of the Heartifilia Konzern is greedy. I simply saw a poster offering reward for someone who looked somewhat familiar and passed along the information to Phantom Lord."

Siegrain chuckled, looking at a picture of Lucy that was on his desk. "She's a cute girl. It seems as though she hasn't told anyone in Fairy Tail that she's the heir of the Heartifilia Konzern. How amusing."

"They probably wouldn't care anyway."

"True, but so far it has worked to our advantage." Siegrain tossed the picture onto his desk, amidst the papers that were already laying there. "From what I know of Jose, he will do anything to try to take power from Fairy Tail, and this is his opportunity to throw down the gauntlet. One of these guilds will not be walking away from this, and there will also be one less Wizard Saint, perhaps two if I'm lucky. Excellent job, Ultear."

"Thank you." Ultear gave Siegrain a small bow. "Who do you think will come out on top in the end?"

Siegrain snorted. "Fairy Tail, of course. Makarov won't stand for letting his guild be insulted, one way or another. As long as Fairy Tail can count on backup from even two of their S-Ranked mages, they won't fall."

"You mean like Titania and Fire Shadow?"

"Hm. Interesting you should pick those two." Siegrain examined Ultear with a critical eye. "Any particular reason why you mentioned them and not Laxus or Gildarts?"

"No." Ultear shook her head. "One of them just always seems to be at the forefront of everything that happens with Fairy Tail, so I would say my guess is only natural. Besides, Laxus has been too much if a loose canon as of late from what I hear, and Gildarts is out for an indefinite amount of time on the hundred year mission. The only other one I could mention is Mystogan, but I always have a hard time keeping track of him."

Siegrain nodded, then went back to examining the papers on his desk. Ultear noticed this, and started moving towards the exit. It wasn't until she had opened the door to leave that he spoke up.

"Where are you going?"

Ultear left the door open and looked over her shoulder. "If a fight is going to happen, I'd like to have a front row seat."

"Very well. Just make sure you share anything interesting."

"Of course." Once the door closed, however, she smiled and talked to herself as she walked down the hall, "As long as I'm not showing you anything about Fire Shadow, anyway."

* * *

_Two days later..._

Naruto watched the men and women below him interact with each other as he observed them from his perch on one of the tallest trees in the area. Makarov had given him and Mystogan an assignment that was for them alone – to take care of all the subdivisions of Phantom Lord.

Phantom Lord had been trying to garner more recognition for themselves over time. Naruto was aware of them, but not to any large extent. Apparently Phantom Lord fancied itself as a direct rival and competitor to Fairy Tail, though what Fairy Tail had in quality, Phantom Lord had in quantity. The membership count of Phantom Lord easily dwarfed that of Fairy Tail by a scale of five to one, though Makarov believed that the overall quality of mages in Fairy Tail made them much more powerful.

Judging by the magic levels of the people below him, Naruto tended to agree. His senses weren't all that spectacular when detecting magic or chakra levels – he was no sensor after all – but even the people below him barely registered as a blip on his radar. There was only one signature that was noteworthy, and it was trembling against his senses like a tightly coiled spring. That was the one he was here for, and it was currently residing in the largest tent in the area.

He had split up with Mystogan earlier, the other mage was going to go around and round up all the scattered divisions and knock them out of commission. After what Makarov planned at Phantom Lord headquarters, he doubted that there would be anything left of Phantom Lord by the time they were done with them. The guild would likely be disbanded because of the provoked attack, but Makarov didn't want to leave anyone around who was capable of leading... just in case.

_Are you ready?_

**Yes. What are we using this time?**

_I'll escalate as necessary. I only know the basics about this Del Nusset guy. He can make his skin harder, and packs a punch when he needs to. It's very vague, and I don't like it._

**So just overpower him in the very beginning?**

_I'm worried about using excessive force. We can't kill anyone outright, or Fairy Tail risks being disbanded._

**Spoilsport.**

_Just be ready for Sage Mode. Hopefully it won't get that far._

**Right. Like anything is ever that easy for you.**

_Don't remind me._

Taking a moment to prepare himself, Naruto used his body-flicker teleportation technique and appeared in the middle of the enemy camp, close to where he felt the intense presence. It only took a second for the shouts of alarm to raise, apparently many people recognized him right away since he heard his name shouted out more than once.

One of the people he was closest to actually stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground, completely shocked at his sudden appearance. Naruto looked down at him and said the one phrase he never thought he would ever say:

"Take me to your leader."

That just made everyone around him jump in fright, and two of the other nearby Phantom Lord members quickly turned and ran to the tent he had believed the leader was in. Apparently, he was correct. It only took a moment for his target to appear, though he was mildly surprised that said target didn't seem surprised by his presence at all.

"Ah, Fire Shadow. I must say, it is an honor."

Naruto couldn't help it, this wasn't what he was expecting. His hand unconsciously moved to the back of his neck and began scratching. "O-Oh. Um, really?"

The man who went by the name of Del Nusset simply nodded, then frowned slightly. "Yes, I have been following your exploits for the past year now, and I must say that I am suitably impressed. As are most of my forces, hence why they were startled and awed by your appearance.

"Unfortunately, however, I was just made aware this morning that it seems our Master, Jose Porla, made a rather foolish move and effectively declared war on Fairy Tail." Del Nusset looked like he was going to say more, but the startled gasps from around him caused him to pause and look around, then raise his hands in a placating gesture in an attempt to keep his people calm.

"I would assume that is why you are here, Fire Shadow? To kill me?"

Naruto quickly shook his head. "No. I don't kill anyone, if I can avoid it. I just need to capture you alive until this all blows over. I'll let you go free if you swear to never do anything against Fairy Tail in the future."

"I see." Del Nusset rubbed at his chin as he looked around the camp. In the ensuing silence, Naruto finally took a moment to actually examine the man across from him. While he could sense the power the man radiated, he didn't really look like much of a fighter – but that probably worked to his advantage. His clothes appeared to be rather casual, the only thing that stood out was his belt that was made of a multitude of colors, but Naruto wasn't sure if it was some kind of fashion statement or if it had a more practical use. Otherwise, the man could probably blend into any crowd, his close-cut black hair and light brown eyes likely allowed him to fit in almost anywhere.

"Very well, if we have to fight, then so be it. I accept your terms, but know that I won't go easy on you, just like I don't expect you to take it easy on me. I honestly don't expect to win, but I'll try to give you a good fight anyway."

"You seem like a nice guy. Why don't you just leave Phantom Lord?"

Del Nusset laughed briefly, but shook his head. "Would you leave Fairy Tail if I asked? I doubt it. It's much the same for me. Jose Porla was not the Guild Master when I joined Phantom Lord. He was merely the strongest in the guild at the time when our previous Master stepped down to retire. I know that it is unlikely Phantom Lord will exist after this brief 'war', but I plan on being here until the bitter end."

"I see." Naruto sighed, and dropped down into a ready stance. "Here I come."

Del Nusset nodded, but didn't move into any sort of ready position. Not waiting any more, Naruto pumped chakra into his legs and shot forward. He started to grow concerned as he got closer, Del Nusset still made no move to stop him.

His fist met with his opponent's solar plexus, but the man barely flinched. The only sign that he was affected was when Del Nusset winced slightly, then shot forward with both of his hands, catching Naruto's wrist and forearm in a strong grip before Naruto could back away.

"Good, I could tell you hit me with enough force to incapacitate an unprepared man. Unfortunately, I'm not any ordinary man. Do you know anything about my abilities?"

Naruto's alarm was growing steadily. He was at point-blank range with this man, who had a grip strong enough that he couldn't even pull away when enhancing his footing and strength with normal chakra. "Uh... just that you can pack a punch and have tough skin. Not much to go on, really."

Del Nusset threw his head back and laughed heartily for a moment, before giving Naruto a wicked smile. "Both are true, but nowhere near completely accurate. Unfortunately for you, it seems you have to find out the hard way. It's nothing personal."

Naruto suddenly felt immense pressure on his wrist and forearm, only to register hearing a loud 'SNAP' noise before pain took over. His arm was released and he immediately jumped backwards, holding his broken wrist and arm, barely keeping himself from letting out a scream.

"There are a few things I can do with my magic power. You just encountered one of them. I'm fairly certain, however, that you haven't shown all of what you are capable of either, correct?"

The blond simply grunted, trying to set his bone correctly so that his healing factor could take over. With a mental nudge to Kyuubi, demonic chakra quickly flooded his system and concentrated it around his arm, accelerating his own natural healing abilities. After holding his arm steady for a few precious seconds, he cautiously held it out and flexed his fist.

"You're right. It looks like in order to beat you, I'm going to have to kick it up a notch."

To say Del Nusset was surprised would have been an understatement... if nothing else he looked satisfied. The rest of the Phantom Lord mages around him, however, began whispering. They were either excited or worried, Naruto wasn't really paying them much attention.

Naruto slowly let the Kyuubi's chakra come to the fore, but not too much of it. Bringing out the first stage of the cloak, he felt the familiar fire coursing through his chakra network, boosting his natural abilities to a large degree. Stretching a hand out, he began to gather chakra in his palm, taking a few seconds to start up what he considered to be his signature move.

"I don't want to hurt you badly, just knock you unconscious. This won't kill you, but it will hurt."

His opponent smirked at him. "We'll see." This time the man did adopt something of a defensive stance, he spread his legs slightly and rested his hands on his colorful belt. Once Naruto's bright red Rasengan was finished forming, he shot forward.

Something about Del Nusset shifted right before he hit the man with the Rasengan, however. His skin changed to become slightly silver in color. Del Nusset had moved his arms up into an X-shape in front of his torso, and Naruto aimed for that spot because he didn't want to accidentally kill the man. The Rasengan impacted right in the middle where the man's arms crossed, and Naruto fully expected to see him fly backwards with his arms in tatters.

To his surprise, however, the man was barely pushed back on his feet, pushing him backwards enough to leave troughs in the ground and leaving loose dirt and rocks piled up around his ankles. The powerful Rasengan did nothing more than tear up the man's sleeves and leave some wicked-looking scratch marks on his arms. Del Nusset chuckled lightly as he dropped his arms, obviously amused at the attempt, but still rubbed them with his hands when his skin took on its normal color.

"I must admit, I think that's the furthest anyone has ever knocked me back when I've used that form. I don't think I've ever taken that much damage before either."

"W-What did you.. just do?"

"That would be telling. We can't have that, can we?" Before Naruto could say anything further, Del Nusset sprinted forward, this time catching Naruto off guard because of the speed of his approach. With his reaction time from before, there was no way he should be this fast!

Naruto managed to block the first punch, barely. It wasn't a strong punch, and he barely registered it. The Kyuubi's chakra cloak around him must have been burning Del Nusset's hands, because he observed that the man was wincing slightly before hitting him.

The attacks gradually started becoming more powerful, though at the same time the blows were easier to block. Unfortunately the repeated punishment was beginning to take its toll, and Naruto realized he'd have to back off again before he ended up with more broken bones.

He waited after a couple more blows for an opening, and took one when he saw it. A quick snap kick forced Del Nusset on the defensive for a moment, but Naruto followed up with a sweeping kick that would hopefully knock the man's feet out from under him. As his shin connected with his opponent's ankle, however, he had to bite back a curse. The pain in his leg was incredible, he was probably lucky that it didn't shatter.

Looking up, he noticed that Del Nusset was touching his belt again, and had a small grin on his once-again silver face, but otherwise hadn't moved. Jumping back for a moment, he hopped on one leg, willing away the pain in his shin. It wasn't disappearing fast enough, of course... the silver color disappeared from Del Nusset's skin once again and he moved forward quickly to re-engage Naruto in close combat.

_This is insane! I already thought I was risking it with the Rasengan! What the hell else can I do that won't kill him?_

**Focus. From what I can see, he can only do one thing at a time. Speed, power, or defense.**

_What? I mean I know he can do all those-_

**He can only do one at a time! He uses his speed to get in close, then he switches over to power so his punches and kicks hurt more. When you try to retaliate, he does that thing where he only has to stand there and take it!**

_Right. I guess it's time to use Sage Mode. If I use Rasenshuriken or Menacing Ball, even at low power, I risk killing him. Swarming him with clones won't even phase him if he can just stand there and take it._

**You should just kill the annoying bug and be done with it.**

_No. Are you ready for the next level? It's time for Sage Mode._

**Yeah, whatever.**

Naruto dropped the Kyuubi's cloak mid-block, causing Del Nusset to stall in the middle of his attack, surprised.

"I wouldn't stop if I were you." Orange pigmentation appeared around Naruto's eyes, and the once blue irises changed to a bright yellow, with rectangular pupils. His mask would cover the pigmentation change, but his eyes were still visible through the holes in his mask.

"What was-" Del Nusset's obvious question was cut short as Naruto aimed a punch at the man's stomach once again. This time he was rewarded by hearing a whoosh of air leave the man's mouth before he flew backwards and crashed into one of the nearby tents, sending his troops scattering in surprise and fear.

"It's a little known fact that I'm a Sage. If you're at all sensitive to a mage's power, I know you can feel the change. I call this Sage Mode."

There were murmurs all around him again from those who were watching the fight. Naruto focused on the sound of something moving around the area that was once the tent, and barely got a fist up in time to block a wooden bench that was thrown at him. If anything the whispers around him became shouts of surprise as the bench split in two, and Naruto only had to hold his fist up to block it.

"I see. This is... interesting." Del Nusset slowly appeared from around the wreckage of the tent, holding his stomach. "You have definitely earned your reputation. Your aura before was oppressing and felt slightly dark. This one gives off a comforting feeling but is even more oppressing than your other, if such a thing is possible."

Naruto smirked behind his mask, even though no one could see it. "You're the first one to get me to use this since I started at Fairy Tail."

Del Nusset actually looked surprised for a moment, and then shocked Naruto in turn when he smiled and gave a small bow. "Thank you for the honor."

"Err... you're welcome, I guess."

Del Nusset chuckled for a second, before touching a spot on his belt again. "It would appear that you have figured out my own powers, to a degree. I can do three different things, but only one at a time."

"Yeah. Speed, power, and defense."

"Exactly. It truly is a pleasure to fight someone of your caliber. My speed and power are rather self-explanatory, but as for my defense, my skin becomes whatever substance I touch with my pinky finger. Earlier, I was touching iron, so my skin adopted it's properties, as well as the extra weight. However, I wonder how your new Sage Mode will work against me if I use diamond."

As soon as he finished talking, Del Nusset tapped his pinky finger against a glittering spot on his belt. A moment later, his skin became like a million different prisms. Apparently he felt confident enough in his diamond form to attack and defend, even if he didn't have the speed anymore. A regular punch would hurt anyone, but a punch from a fist made of diamond? Even in Sage Mode, Naruto wasn't terribly eager about getting hit by it.

Naruto tried to focus on deflecting attacks instead of outright blocking them, but Del Nusset was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so it wasn't working as well as he hoped. Even the hits that only clipped him still stung. He had an idea, but it might be tricky to execute. He just had to time it right and find another opening...

Unfortunately in his attempt to find one, he totally misjudged a feint by Del Nusset, and caught a diamond-fisted punch straight across his jaw, causing him to see stars. Luckily Sage Mode reinforced his natural strengths even more than the Kyuubi's chakra, otherwise his jaw definitely would have been shattered. Scrambling back a couple steps, he shook his head to clear it, spit out some of the blood that had pooled in his mouth from a cut on the inside of his cheek, and dived right back into the fight.

If Del Nusset was at all impressed, he didn't show it.

That punch did manage to create an opening, however. He had managed to create two Kage Bunshin behind Del Nusset while he was focused on watching his opponent recover. The fact that Del Nusset didn't understand how hand seals worked to his advantage in this case. As Naruto moved back in to engage the man fully, the two regular clones behind him created an Oodama Rasengan, and started running forward.

Seeing this, the original Naruto moved to disengage, taking two large jumps backwards. Del Nusset stared at him curiously for a moment, and began asking what was going on until the shouts of 'watch out!' from the surrounding crowd made him stop and take a look around. It was too late, however, as the large Rasengan smashed into the man's back, causing him to shout in slight pain and surprise, then get sent spiraling right at the original.

Naruto focused as much natural chakra into his right shoulder and legs as he could, then crouched down and waited for Del Nusset to fly over him. Once he did, Naruto jumped up and launched off the ground like a rocket, causing the ground to buckle underneath his feet as he performed a new technique that he liked to call 'Toad Leap'. By concentrating natural chakra into his legs, he could literally fly quite a distance, the only problem was that it was really hard to aim when trying to land. Luckily he was simply jumping straight up this time, so he would land nearby, if not right near where he launched from.

He was as prepared for the jarring feeling of a diamond-covered body impacting against his shoulder as he could be, but it still managed to become dislocated. Del Nusset wasn't resisting at all, but was apparently struck numb by what was going on, as he had offered no resistance. As they reached the apex of the jump, Naruto rotated his position in the air with Del Nusset, and began to form a large Fuuton Rasengan in his left hand.

Del Nusset finally began struggle in the air as he understood what was going on, but Naruto didn't give him time to recover. Grunting, he shoved the Fuuton Rasengan into the man's chest, and with a yelp Del Nusset was forcefully flung back down towards the ground. Naruto watched as the man crashed completely through a tree, then formed a slight crater in the earth upon impact, kicking up dust and debris everywhere.

The blond forced nature chakra back into his legs before he landed, forming a small crater of his own upon impact not far from where Del Nusset landed. Quickly jogging over to the other impact site, he was partly relieved to see that the man no longer had his diamond form activated.

"Del Nusset?"

He didn't expect a response, but figured it was worth a shot anyway. He cautiously moved forward to check on the man, and leaned forward to press two fingers against the man's jugular. Upon feeling a slow but steady heartbeat, he let out a sigh of relief.

When he looked up, Naruto realized that other members of Phantom Lord had arrived, and were eying him warily. They likely got to the crash site as soon as they could.

"Your boss is fine, just unconscious. Tell him when he wakes up that if Phantom Lord ends up disbanding, I may have some work for him and a few others later... assuming he doesn't make his own guild."

He saw a few nods from the people around him, so with a grunt he stood back up and dropped Sage Mode. Holding his dislocated right shoulder with his left hand, he pulled some of Kyuubi's chakra again and bit back a yelp as he pulled the shoulder back into place. The throbbing quickly settled as his own bolstered healing abilities took over.

_Thanks, Kyuubi._

**Psh.**

It amused him that the Kyuubi still didn't know how to take thanks or compliments. Shaking his head and chuckling to himself, the blond started to walk away, only to stumble slightly as he held his forehead. Letting out a sigh, he mumbled to himself as he continued walking again. The clone he left at the guild had dispelled, passing along some distressing news.

"Stupid old man, I warned him that it might be a trap. But _nooo_, he had to go and attack their headquarters anyway. Ugh, I guess I should stop by and visit Porlyusica-obaasan to make sure he'll be okay. I swear..."

* * *

From her vantage point in a tree somewhat distant from where Naruto was fighting, Ultear smiled as she watched the blond walk away from where he finished his fight. She could feel his aura change in the middle of the battle, even a few miles away from the actual fight itself. She had felt his darker aura before and knew it was powerful. But the new aura that he had was even stronger. It was so... intoxicating.

She chuckled to herself as she accelerated the 'time' of the crystal ball, turning it to dust and placing it in a pouch she kept on herself. Siegrain didn't need to know about this at all. At least, not until it might be too late for him. He usually relied on her for information and didn't bother with reading reports and put no stock in rumors, so unless one of the other witnesses to the fight said something and it got back to him, he would likely never know anything.

As far as she was concerned, nothing of interest happened here. Of course, that meant she couldn't update Naruto's file in Era either.

Not to mention... Hades didn't really _need_ to know about this situation either.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

Naruto "Fire Shadow" Uzumaki

_Mage Council Classification:_ S-Rank, registered  
_Notes:_ _Classified Class II - See Archives Management with inquiries.  
_

_Stage Zero through Three - __See Era Council Archives, Section XXVII, Row I 'Fire Shadow - Naruto Uzumaki'__  
Stage Four:_ Confirmation on title - Sage Mode. Exact power level unknown, rumored to be on-par with most of the ten Wizard Saints.

_Member Since:_ October 21st, 782 (3 years, 10 months)  
_Age:_ 20  
Solo Missions: 788  
Team Missions: 343  
S-Rank Missions: 42  
SS-Rank Missions: 4

_Reward to Date:_ 3,393,772,815 Jewels

* * *

A/N: I know some of you probably rubbed your eyes when you got the update notice, not sure if you really saw what you thought you saw. Well, you did. Surprise! Much thanks to my good 'ol beta, Denim88 for having a fabulous turnaround time with these last two chapters.

_Poor Mirajane_ - Mirajane and Naruto are best friends without the relationship attachment. They would be friends with benefits or more if Erza wasn't involved. They are on a Naruto/Sakura sort of platonic teammate/friends thing, the only difference is Mirajane isn't afraid to flirt with her friend. Yes, Naruto knows that Mira would gladly jump on the chance to be more than just best friends, but they are both mature enough to understand that it would really, really disrupt things in the guild and their 'family' - not to mention Erza.

_Crazy About Ultear_ - Ultear wants Naruto, period. She goes after anyone with power. Naruto has plenty of it. She'll try to win Naruto to her side (whatever side that is) by almost any means necessary. Unfortunately for her, Naruto is strong-willed, but she sees it as a challenge.

_Harem plzzz?_ - I know the story looks like I could easily send it down that path, but that isn't going to happen. I know that is disappointing to some, sorry - but I had never planned on this fic being a harem in the first place. Ultear and to a lesser extent Mirajane are around to create a little something called tension.


	17. Life, The Universe, and Everything

This chapter is currently lightly beta'd. Just wanted to get it _posted_. Enjoy~ (Edit: okay, for some reason the formatting REALLY hates me. Trying to fix everything...)

Chapter 17

_Three days after the fight with Del Nusset..._

Naruto literally flew through the trees as he headed for Porlyusica's hermit shack. The reclusive woman hated humans with a passion; why she did he had no clue. The aged witch was powerful in her own right, though the only time he had ever seen her use magic was to heal. Just like a medic he knew fairly well from his own reality, Porlyusica could deal out physical and mental abuse like none other. If you were lucky, she might be willing to patch you up afterward.

The reason he was moving at breakneck speed through the trees was because of Makarov. For some inexplicable reason, he felt traces of the man's magic over a large area, which gradually began to shift and condense into a more coherent, stronger form. He doubted anyone who wasn't closely attuned to feeling power levels like he was would have felt it, but there was no doubt who the power he was feeling belonged to.

Then, once it all seemed to arrive at one place, it became muffled... only to finally disappear. He was desperately hoping that wasn't a bad sign, as he had no desire to say goodbye to the old man yet. The worry he initially felt began to fade as the geography he was traveling by became more familiar, however. With no small amount of relief, Naruto understood that this couldn't have simply been a coincidence. Makarov's power had consolidated in the same area where Porlyusica's hut was located. That could only be a good sign.

When the terrain became even more familiar, he quickly adjusted course and followed a stream towards where he knew the older woman's home was located. He'd been here often enough to be familiar with most of the area around her hut. For as much as she grumbled about hating humans, she never really chased him away until he was in perfect health. Naruto suspected that she enjoyed company from time to time, not to mention getting the opportunity to flex her magical skills.

So with a hardened heart in preparation for what he might encounter, Naruto dropped down through the trees to land outside the clearing near Porlyusica's hut.

"Fire Shadow!" He heard a sigh following the exclamation. "Ugh, not you too."

Tossing the scowling woman a grin, he took a quick look around. The most obvious thing was various banners of Phantom Lord scattered about. Seeing Mystogan sitting off to the side meant that the other mage was succesful in his suppression of the guilds other branches.

"Sorry, I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Porlyusica didn't say anything, but Mystogan slowly rose to his feet as he shook his head negatively. "No. I was just leaving. Thank you for the apples."

"Just scram already."

With a small wave of his hand, Mystogan began to fade from view, before dispersing completely into a cloud of fine mist. Eventually even that disappeared.

"Huh, I'll never tire of seeing that method of travel. I wish I had a cool move like it."

He heard Porlyusica snort. "Naruto, you can run faster than most trains can travel. I doubt you have anything to worry about."

The blond turned to the woman, a frown on his face. "Yeah, but still." He smacked his fist into his other open palm. "I know, maybe I can do something so that when I'm running my footprints leave little flames behind!"

While Naruto grinned and seemed to think it was a good idea, the pink-haired woman merely groaned and grabbed a broom, beginning to sweep her already clean-looking doorstep. "What brings you here, brat? I'm already agitated from having to deal with Mister Personality. I'm not really in the mood to deal with someone like you who is on the complete other side of the personality spectrum."

"Wow, settle down Porlyusica-obaasan. I was heading back to the guild when I felt Makarov's magic power."

The woman stopped sweeping, looking at the blond with a critical gaze. "You could feel his power, even dispersed as it was?"

"Dispersed? Yeah, I guess so." Naruto shrugged. "I felt it start to condense and decided to follow it to see what was going on. As I got closer I recognized the area, and it led me here. But his power became muffled and then I lost track of it a little while ago."

Shaking her head, Porlyusica resumed her sweeping. "You missed him by about an hour. The fool had his magic forcibly removed by one of the members of Phantom Lord. Mystogan somehow gathered it up and brought it here. I stuffed it back in him, and the moment he woke up he headed back for guild headquarters."

"You mean you didn't threaten him and keep him strapped down or something?"

"Why would I do that? It's not like I would care what that fool does!"

Naruto chuckled, moving over to sit on one of the closed crates. "But yet you helped heal him anyway. Or are you going to tell me it's only because you still have the Fairy Tail insignia stamped on your left bicep?"

Porlyusica glanced at him sharply, before she sighed and closing her eyes. Her facial expression softened considerably. "I've known Makarov for most of my life, Naruto. He never changes. In the end, I know he'll do what needs to be done."

Her eyes opened and the once passive expression hardened once again. "For a stupid human, anyway."

Naruto clucked his tongue as he watched her sweep the same already clean spot over and over again. "I've never really asked before, but what do you have against humans anyway?"

"I already had this discussion with Mystogan a few minutes ago. I'm not having it again."

Finding himself with a loss of anything else to say, Naruto grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. Between Makarov just up and leaving as soon as he was healed to Mystogan showing up and leaving a mess, it was no wonder that the older woman looked a bit peeved.

Porlyusica froze completely as she was suddenly engulfed in a suprisingly firm hug from the blond who quickly appeared in front of her. She was about to bark out orders for him to let her go before she froze at his voice in her ear.

"I know it's something that you probably don't get often, even though you should. Thank you for healing the old man. Thank you for putting up with the emotionally-stunted Mystogan. Thank you for tending all the bumps I've gotten on my noggin, including the ones you yourself gave me."

Naruto chuckled as he released the woman, who was completely frozen. "I don't think you get enough thanks, Porlyusica-obaasan. So I'll just say it one more time. Thank you."

Before she could say a word, he promptly disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Her eyes could barely track his movement, but he picked up all of the Phantom Lord banners before he vanished completely from her sight.

The old woman found herself smiling a little bit. While Makarov had in fact thanked her, and in fact he was one of the few who always did, Naruto's certainly sounded more heartfelt. Then there was the hug – that was a surprise. She couldn't remember the last time she had received any sort of physical affection from anyone in recent memory. Honestly she had no one to blame but herself for that one though, she tended to keep most people at arm's length. Or, more accurately, at a broom-handle's distance.

Sighing, Porlyusica looked down, only to frown. Dammit.

"Fire Shadow! Get back here and clean up your mess! I just swept this spot clean, brat, and you got your little leaves all over it!"

* * *

_The following day..._

Naruto's arrival at the guild was met with some smiles, some frowns, and a lot of 'Where were you's?'. That all stopped once he finally made it over to Makarov, who was sitting down on a barrel and looking rather weary. Naruto had taken one glance at the condition the guild hall was in and winced. He had to admit at wishing he was around to prevent the whole thing in the first place, but at the same time he had seen what was left of Phantom Lord's guild hall... robot... golem-thing. Fairy Tail definitely got its revenge.

"Welcome back, Naruto. How was your journey?"

"Not as exciting as yours, I believe."

Makarov simply stared at Naruto for a moment before breaking out into a small grin. "Ho ho. Perhaps not. How was Del Nusset?"

Naruto slowly scratched at the back of his neck. "He got me to go further than anyone else, but other than that it wasn't too difficult to handle him. I found it interesting that no one else from his division attempted to even touch me before we came to blows. Not only that, but none of them interfered or attempted to avenge his defeat."

Makarov hummed, scratching at his short beard. "Alistair Del Nusset has always been a complicated individual. He wanted to join Fairy Tail once upon a time, but he didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with our ideals. I'm sure many of the men and women in his division were followers of his anyway – the same ones he tried to bring with him to our guild. When I wouldn't bend our morals enough to accept him, he went to Phantom Lord."

The old man looked away, towards the ruined Phantom Lord building in the sea outside Magnolia Town. "I have a feeling that he will remain an independent mage, now that Phantom Lord has been crushed."

"I got the impression that he didn't really care for Phantom Lord."

"He probably didn't." Makarov chuckled. "I think he was just looking for a place to call home. It's a shame he picked them. Now... he'll probably follow you."

"Eh?" Naruto's surprise was evident in his voice, even if his face was still covered by his mask. "I mean, I told his men that I may have work for them in the future, especially if our plan comes to fruition, but I'm not recruiting followers or anything like that."

The blond fell into silence after his statement, and neither of the two powerful mages said anything further. Naruto looked around at the bustle; there were civilians from the town as well as plenty of Fairy Tail mages helping to rebuild the new guild. He realized with a start that none of the more familiar faces were there. Erza, Gray, Natsu, Happy, Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman. Lucy... he didn't see any of them.

"Naruto."

"Yeah, boss?" The young man's attention snapped back to the Guild Master.

"I told you back when you first joined, and you admitted it back when you joined... Fairy Tail will likely be nothing more than a stepping stone for you."

"Yes, but it'-"

"Naruto." Makarov held up a hand, cutting the shinobi off. The blond shut his mouth, but if his body language was any indication, he did so reluctantly. "Things are going to start happening soon. I can feel it in my bones. When the time comes, you'll just have to go and do what we discussed. You're a good person at heart, so I know you can handle the difficult path ahead. If you ever plan to get home again, there is only one person that I can think of with the knowledge to get you there."

Naruto was silent, thinking hard. He'd been here for a few years already, and had been starting to think of Fairy Tail as a sort of home-away-from-home. To leave it now...

**Sentimentality was never your strong suit. Then again, being sentimental and being strong never really go together, do they?**

_No, not really._

**What is this? No snippy comeback? No 'Shut up Kyuubi!' or 'You don't know what you're talking about Kyuubi!'. Shame, I expected more.**

_Maybe later. I honestly do have a lot on my mind right now._

**Very well. Boooring.**

"I'm not saying the time is upon you at this very moment," Makarov continued, quietly, "You just need to be prepared to face it since I feel the time will be upon you, and us, sooner than we expect. I've already heard rumblings of various goings-on from Era. Now that there is one less of the Saints, I'd expect you to be approached soon."

"Already?"

"They generally always like to have all the positions filled. I don't know why. It's just policy. Anyway, I just thought I'd give you a heads up. Don't be surprised if they approach you."

Naruto wasn't sure what to say about that, so he simply remained silent. While the positions of the Ten Wizard Saints were highly respected, he wasn't really sure if it was something he wanted. If a person like Jose Porla could become a Saint, he wasn't to sure if he wanted to join a list like that. Granted, many of the Saints were probably fine, upstanding wizards and witches – like Makarov – but he knew he wouldn't really have to ask about it unless asked.

"Thanks for the heads up. I don't know if I'd accept, though."

Makarov shrugged. "The choice is ultimately yours. You may not even have to worry about being asked."

Naruto couldn't hold back a snort, thinking about Ultear. If the way she hounded him was any indication... "I doubt that I wouldn't be offered, at this point."

As silence drifted between the two again, Naruto turned his gaze back to what was left of the guild. Most of it had been cleared away by this point and the skeleton of some of a new building was up, but that was about it. Naruto gestured towards it.

"Want some help, old man?"

"Eh, if you want. You just got back though, so I-"

"Master! Master!" The sound of a familiar voice from behind him halted whatever Makarov was going to say as he looked over his shoulder. Naruto looked up as well, to notice Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Erza jogging quickly over to them.

"Master!" Natsu ran up, then leaned forward, taking a heaving breath before standing up straight again. Happy landed on his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"It's Lucy! She's gone!"

Makarov turned around on the barrel, so he was facing Natsu completely. "Gone? Do you mean Phantom Lord...?"

"No, Master." Erza cut in, sending a glance at Naruto, but then looked back to Makarov. "We found this note in her room, on her desk. I think she intended for us to find it eventually."

Erza handed the Guild Master the note she had found, and the aged man nodded slowly. "I see. Do any of you have an idea what may have caused this, other than the obvious?"

The four of them shook their heads simultaneously.

"What is the obvious? Sorry I'm a little behind the goings-on here, I've been out beating up Phantom Lord's subdivisions with Mystogan."

Naruto's comment caught the four by surprise. Natsu and Happy started laughing while Erza and Gray were giving him more critical, appraising looks.

"Phantom Lord attacked us because Lucy's father put out a rather large bounty for her return," Makarov explained as he frowned at Natsu and Happy. "They had always been looking for an excuse to knock Fairy Tail down a peg, so they accepted the job. Unfortunately for them bounties of this kind where they had to attack another guild outright got them the label of a Dark Guild. Therefore everything we did was considered defensive retaliation to an unprovoked attack. We got off lightly, this time.

"Unfortunately Lucy seems to have pinned all the blame for this on herself, both on our behalf and that of Phantom Lord. Now it seems she may have done the most drastic thing yet, and left. I still feel her connection to the guild stamp, though, so it is likely that you four can try to stop her if you hurry."

Natsu, Happy, and Gray immediately nodded and turned to start running off. Erza, however, remained behind.

"Uhm... Master, can Naruto come with us?"

Makarov looked over his shoulder at the masked blond, before turning back to the redhead. "Do you really think you need another S-Ranked Mage for such a simple assignment?

Erza cringed slightly, and looked away. "No, it's not that. It's just that-"

"Erza, are you coming? Hurry hurry!"

"Erza's the rotten egg! Too bad!"

Hearing Natsu and Happy's voices, the young woman sighed as she looked over her shoulder and frowned. Glancing at Naruto for a moment, she gave both him and Makarov a brief nod of her head before turning to follow the other three.

Once she was out of sight, Makarov turned back to Naruto. "Did you want to go with them?"

The blond only thought about it for a moment. "Yes and no. I miss Erza a lot, we've both been so busy and out on assignments lately. Something tells me that you have another job for me, though, and that's why you didn't let me go."

"Very astute. Follow me."

Makarov hopped off the barrel and began walking through town, towards the sea. Naruto followed directly behind the older man, wondering what in the world he could want now. Looking around as they walked, he spotted many people who were bustling about just like this was a normal day – or about as normal as it could get if you ignored destroyed bits of property here and there.

When they finally reached the edge of the pier, Makarov looked out over the water, eyeing the ruins of Phantom Lord's construct. It was slowly falling apart as it was battered by the waves.

"The job I'm going to ask you to do is normally something that I do myself once a year. You remember me talking about Tenrou Island, correct?"

"I remember you mentioning it once or twice."

Makarov nodded. "It's the island where Fairy Tail was first formed. It's home to many things, some obvious, others not so much. Let's just say that it has its fair share of secrets. The main thing that I can share with you is that it is where the first leader of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermilion, is buried."

Naruto was putting his full attention on Makarov. While he'd heard mention of the Island before, there were never any additional details.

"The secret to casting Fairy Tail's three main magics is stored there as well. Fairy Law, Fairy Glitter, and Fairy Sphere. I would teach them to you, as you're certainly powerful enough to cast them..." Makarov turned sad eyes to look at Naruto, "... but you know why I can't."

The blond nodded slowly. It probably required some kind of bond that he didn't have.

**No matter. Could you imagine shouting out the name of techniques like that? Shouting anything with the word Fairy in it makes you sound like a wuss.**

_Matter of opinion, Kyuubi._

**Yes, and by now mine should be the only opinion that matters. How long have we been together now?**

_I think too long, sometimes._

**Well look at that, we agree about something. Miracles never cease.**

"Tenrou Island has some decent protections... nothing extreme, but enough to keep casual searchers away from it. The more intense wards are linked to magical-ley lines that exist at various places on the continent – the type that keeps away those who are actively trying to find it. Right now is about when I'd go on a trip to check them all, but unfortunately between rebuilding the guild and needing to visit Era to give a full accounting of what happened... I just don't have the time. I mean, I could put everything else off, but I'd rather not.

"Since you're here and available, I was hoping you would be willing to go check them for me. I would have sent one of the others, but they all have obligations as well. I was about to send Erza before this little episode with Lucy."

Naruto was feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want to trust me with something that sounds rather important? I get the feeling there is more to this Island than what you stated."

Makarov chuckled. "Oh, there is more. Much more. We'll likely have our next S-Rank trial there, like we usually do. We only haven't gone there in recent years because there have been more than enough opportunities for members to prove themselves on missions. Much like what happened for you."

Pulling a list out from his pocket, he handed it to Naruto. The blond accepted the list, looking it over quickly. There was a list of towns, followed by another list of coordinates next to each town name. It was likely the location where the ley lines were.

"At each of those locations you'll find a set of runic scripts that send power to the wards surrounding Tenrou Island. Just make sure they all look like they are in good order... replace any that seem to be fading because of weather or other means."

"That's it?"

Makarov nodded. "That's it. Simple enough?"

"It almost sounds too simple," Naruto replied.

"Not too many people know scripting. At least, not any that I'd trust with a task like this."

"Very well." Naruto sighed, folding the paper and placing it in one of his pockets. At top speed, he might be able to hit up all the target sites in about a week. Two at the most. "When do I leave?"

"As soon as you want. The sooner the better, for you, I'd think. When you get back I'll see if I can convince Erza to take some time off. I think both of you could use it."

* * *

_Nine days later..._

Naruto yawned behind his mask as he walked through New Masthead. It was a decently sized town on the northeastern edge of Fiore's border with the country Seven. The town itself was fairly large, likely due to the amount of trade traffic it got – it was the last stop before crossing the border into a different country.

He had just finished visiting the sixth location for the ley-line runes about an hour ago. Of all the sites, this one had been in the best condition by far. Most of the others had shown some signs of weather damage, but this particular line had been fairly well protected by a grove of trees and was glowing with power.

For some reason it looked a lot more fresh, as if someone had been there recently and cleaned it up. Why someone would do that, he had no idea. He'd check with Makarov, but according to the old man he was the only other one who knew what their locations were.

Glancing around, Naruto's eyes fell on a young girl who was standing outside of a shop near the inn where he was staying for the night before his return to Magnolia Town. Slowing his walk, he examined others near her to see if maybe the girl had someone she was with. What really threw him was the somewhat dead look the girl had, it was pretty much void of expression, and it just looked _wrong_on someone so young.

When it didn't look like anyone was going to help her out or ask what she was doing, Naruto figured that perhaps he should live up to his public image and see if she needed help. Perhaps she was just waiting for someone inside of the shop.

Looking up, he noticed that it was a magic store, specifically one that claimed to deal in ancient objects. In his experience, most of them were rubbish, nothing more than trinkets... but there were those who had claimed to find artifacts of ancient power in some of these shops. He'd personally never seen anything himself, and until he did, he'd never buy anything from a shop like it.

As he approached the girl, she must have noticed him, because her eyes nearly bulged out of her head for a moment before she once again adopted the dead look. Naruto wasn't quite sure to make of that, perhaps she was just surprised to see someone who was considered powerful by the public's standard in a place like this. He slowed his approach, however, when he spotted some subtle shifts in her stance. She was pretty good at hiding it for one so young, but the posture change from casual to defensive was easy to spot for one with plenty of combat experience.

Stopping a fair distance from the girl, he tried to get a better look at her. She was short, but he had no idea what her age was. He was going to guess somewhere between eight and twelve, if her height was any indication. Her hair was a sort of dull reddish-pink, which was rather unique. There were two gold protuberances near her ears that looked like golden fins; perhaps a strange headband of some sort? A red cape was draped about her shoulders, and she was wearing what looked to be a one-piece purple and black swimsuit coupled with thigh-high black stockings.

All in all, it painted a very, _very _unique picture. Was she trying to stand out on purpose?

Crouching down, he tried to get himself to about eye-level with her so that he wouldn't seem as threatening. Naruto really didn't feel like fighting someone her age.

"Hey there. Do you need help?"

The girl's stance immediately relaxed a bit, and her face adopted a brief confused expression before the dead look replaced it. She quickly shook her head, but said nothing more, and didn't move at all otherwise.

"Uhm, are you sure? You look pretty lonely, standing out here by yourself."

Once again she adopted a brief confused look. This time, instead of switching back to being dead, it morphed into something that more closely resembled wariness... or annoyance.

"You're number two." The girls voice was surprisingly soft, and if he hadn't been watching her lips move to know that she was talking, he might not have heard anything. Now it was his turn to be confused, though, as he stared at her.

"Number two what? In my guild? Perhaps, but I still think there are those stronger than me."

The girl shook her head. "No. You're number two."

The blond chuckled, and scratched at the back of his head. "Uh... thanks, I think." He waited a few seconds to see if the girl would say anything else, but when her expression once again became the dead look he was used to seeing, he realized that she was probably just going to ignore him if he didn't keep talking.

It was strange, the way she was acting. Perhaps she wasn't from around Fiore? He didn't want to take it as a sting to his pride, as he wasn't really even prideful to begin with (that priveledge belonged to Kyuubi) but he had to admit a little part of him stung that he was being ignored by one so young.

"Just to make sure... you're going to be alright? You don't need me to help you find your parents or anything?"

_That _got a response out of her, but it was nothing like what he was expecting. Her expression shifted to one of anger, bordering rage, but a very familiar voice from near the shop entrance stopped anything she was going to say.

"Okay, Meredy, I'm finished checking here. We can go-"

Naruto looked up at the entrance, only to see Ultear exiting the shop. She was dressed in an odd looking outfit that he had never seen her in before, one that looked more like a battle outfit than anything else. The outfit itself resembled the other girl's – Meredy? - in a few respects. The colors and patterns were different, but Ultear's outfit was white and black with white stockings.

_Wow, someone has curves in all the right places._

**Oh ho ho! Go Naruto! It's about time!**

_W-Wait, what? No! I didn't just think that! Okay, maybe I did... but... d-dammit!_

Trying to ignore Kyuubi's howling laughter, Naruto slowly rose to his feet, while Ultear was simply staring at him, her eyes wide and her mouth stuck in an 'Oh!' position. It was likely that she definitely didn't expect him to be here.

"Ultear. We really should stop meeting like this. People might start talking."

The woman finally blinked and her face went slack before she broke out in mild chuckles. The young girl looked shocked for a change. More at Ultear and the fact that she was laughing, rather than the idea of him knowing who Ultear was.

"Fire Shadow... I must say, this certainly is a surprise. Can I ask what brings you out here to New Masthead?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. Part of the Council or not, he was on private business, not a mission. She didn't need to know. "I'm just running a few errands for a friend of mine that needed help. I finished about an hour ago, actually. I only came into town to get some sleep before returning to Magnolia Town tomorrow."

He was expecting one of her more calculating gazes, but this time her face remained rather impassive. To his surprise, she began to tell him what she was doing without him even having to ask.

"I'm here on Council business, as you're probably figuring. We have to do routine checks on shops like this one to make sure they aren't selling dark or demonic items. We had reports of a few particularly nasty items recently, so I'm being sent around for the second time this year."

"Sounds rough. Are there many of these shops?"

"Yes." Ultear nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Most larger towns like this one have at least three or four. Magnolia Town itself has seven. That's only registered shops, to boot. You'd be surprised how many we find that aren't registered with the Council."

Naruto shook his head. "I feel sorry for you, having to go through all that. I couldn't even begin to imagine."

"It's not all bad. I usually have plenty of help. I definitely wouldn't be able to check them all by myself."

Nodding his acceptance, he watched as Ultear eyed Meredy for a moment before gesturing for the younger girl to follow. Once the younger girl fell into step beside her, the raven-haired beauty looked at Naruto again.

"Even though they haven't told me to ask you yet, what's your opinion on the Ten Wizard Saints?" She gestured for him to follow as well as she started walking away. He moved to walk next to her on the opposite side from Meredy.

"You can tell them thanks, but I'm not interested." Naruto had plenty of time to think about it during his travels, and his answer was full of conviction. He was honestly surprised by Ultear's reaction though... she didn't seem surprised at all. If nothing else, she appeared... pleased.

"Should I ask why?" There was a humorous tone to her voice. He really didn't understand this woman.

"I don't need them monitoring me. I've seen what Makarov puts up with, what the expectations are. I've got too much stuff to do, and I don't need the Council dumping jobs on me as well."

"Perfectly sound reasons. Wouldn't you agree, Meredy?"

He didn't hear any response from the other girl, but he wasn't really surprised by that either. She hadn't struck him as the talkative type so far.

"Who is she, if you don't mind me asking?" He wondered what kind of response he'd get.

Ultear tossed him a glance, but gave him a faint smile. "Meredy is my ward. I was examining some ruins of a village left in the wake of a rampage by a Dark Guild, and found her. Being fairly new to the Council at the time I had no idea what to do with an orphan. I also felt a bit of connection to her, having been an orphan myself. So I took her in to raise as my own."

"Noble of you," Naruto mused. The look Ultear sent him didn't look like a happy, or even a proud one, but one composed more of sadness for some reason. Trying to think of something, he shrugged and commented, "I wish I had someone like you when I was a young orphan too."

Ultear looked at him, obviously not expecting this, if her raised eyebrows were any indication. Even Meredy, the stoic one, had leaned around Ultear to look at him in surprise.

"You? Really?"

"Yeah. I never even knew who my parents were until I was sixteen. No one in my home village would tell me. I only found out by accident."

Neither of the girls seemed to know what to say to that, so they walked in silence for a bit. Naruto wasn't sure where they were going, but he hadn't been paying too much attention to his surroundings. So far it looked like they were just walking a random path through the town.

A permanent silence fell over their group for a while after that. Naruto occasionally snuck glances at Ultear, and even Meredy... but the former seemed lost in thought while the latter continued staring ahead, looking bored. He was about to excuse himself to head back to his own inn and room, but Ultear came to a stop in front of another building. Looking up, he noticed it was an inn as well. This must be where she was staying, as it was getting darker out.

"I'm afraid I must part with you here. It's getting late and Meredy is going to need to get some sleep. I have one more shop to check before I call it a night as well." She had turned and was giving him a soft smile. Admittedly it looked a lot better on her than one of the predatory ones she typically graced him with.

He figured it would be polite for him to return the smile, so grabbing his mask, he pulled it to the side. He found grinning was rather easy when the two in front of him were staring in complete shock.

"I should go get some sleep as well. Good night Ultear, Meredy. Sleep well." With a wink, he placed the mask back over his face, gave them both a small wave, and headed back towards his own rented room at another inn.

* * *

Closing the door to their room, Ultear let out a long sigh before turning around to look at her charge. "That was close. _Too _close."

Meredy looked down a little, her hands fumbling with her cloak. "I'm sorry. I didn't see him until it was too late."

"It's fine dear. I'm not blaming you for anything." She gave Meredy a little pat on the head before moving over to the window, looking outside. "I know you were probably rearranging your list in your head again. You seem to do that a lot."

"Yes. I was."

Nodding more to herself than to Meredy, Ultear closed her eyes. Naruto... he never took his mask off in public...

"I don't want Fire Shadow to be number two anymore."

Startled, Ultear opened her eyes and turned around, looking at the younger girl. "Not number two anymore? What do you mean?" It was unusual for the girl to willingly drop anyone on her hit list. They typically only dropped if someone else she disliked more came along to push them down.

Meredy looked away, then back at Ultear. "Number forty-two."

"Forty-two?"

"Yes."

Shaking her head, the raven-haired woman moved over towards the bed, sitting down on it. "Can I ask why?"

Meredy glanced at her, then turned to stare out the window. After a moment, she looked back at her pseudo-mother again with a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"Cute."

Ultear blinked. Then blinked again. "You're changing it... because you think he's cute?"

Meredy nodded, rubbing her cheeks. "Cute. Nice. Different. I don't know. I feel strange."

Ultear had to bite her lip hard to keep from letting out a giggle that would be very much unlike what Meredy would expect from her. "Okay, okay. I can see why you want to change where he is on the list. You should get some sleep... maybe you'll even want to take him off the list tomorrow?"

The young girl nodded again, saying nothing further. It only took a moment for her to get ready to sleep, and when she was finally in bed, Ultear let out another sigh and left, heading for where the runes were located that she was copying for her Guild Master. She didn't know why he wanted them, but there was no need for her to question it.

Of course as she was working to copy the runic scripts she couldn't help but to think back to their earlier encounter with Fire Shadow. Why was he _really _out here? He was obviously up to something, but he believed what she said about her Council work. Not that it was a lie... but it wasn't exactly what she was doing now. She was checking the shops, but it was for pieces of a broken, rare item. Not quite the policing work she claimed.

Eventually her thoughts turned to Meredy... and she found herself suddenly struck with several bouts of giggles. Part of her was tempted to relay the information to Fire Shadow the next time she saw him, just to see his reaction. She'd have to save it for a time when his mask was off.

Ultear leaned back against one of the nearby trees of the grove as she directed her magic to form stones that copied the shape of the script. She had so many plans within plans.

Where could Naruto possibly fit within them?

* * *

A/N: Ohmygoshhi. Remember me? I know a lot of you probably hate me now for taking so long. My muse does what it wants, unfortunately. Needless to say canon has changed a couple things I had planned on writing, but it actually works more in my favor rather than against. So that's good for you all.

I can't really think of much else to say without being too full of blah, so I'll stop here. This is a lead-in chapter to the next arc, so most people will probably only need to read back one chapter, maybe two, to remember where this story is.

Oh, and in case you do read back... yes, I know diamond is strong but brittle. Suspension of disbelief, people. Just a little bit. C'mon.


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